TSA leader recounts how school buses came under the purview of the federal terrorism and crime watch post-9/11
Recognizing that the nation faced a relentless evil became the driving force for virtually every public policy enacted or considered following the tragic events of 9/11. The first decision was to close America’s historic open door.
Within weeks of 9/11, the first of thousands of new hires would be recruited to stand watch over America’s airways, but the agency’s mission wasn’t limited to aviation. Congress authorized TSA to close the gaps in all modes of transportation. As it was created, TSA was aviation centric yet focused also on surface transportation: maritime, mass transit, rail, pipeline and highway. All of those surface modes were originally configured along business lines: cargo, infrastructure and passengers. Fewer than a dozen were assigned to highway security issues, and three were responsible for highway passenger security.
The statisticians reported that nearly half a million school buses are on the road every morning and afternoon. They also told us nearly 23 million students rely on school buses every school day, but they didn’t have to tell us one thing we already knew — every one of those students is entrusted to bus drivers and the vehicle itself by parents who expect their student to be kept safe from harm.
Other federal agencies, likes NHTSA, had figured out how to make the school bus safe from violent-accident intrusions with strong construction and operational rules. TSA now had to figure out how to prevent the most elusive and insidious violent intrusion, one that could simply walk in through the open door and deliberately deliver death in 100 different ways.
TSA’s job today remains the same as it was in 2001, but happily, those original TSA new hires found solid support and help from some of the most dedicated school transportation experts in the country. Three professional organizations immediately offered knowledge and guidance: NAPT, NASDPTS and NSTA. The volunteers who serve as directors and members of those organizations stepped forward with their time, their knowledge and their influence to help TSA understand the business of school transportation and the challenges they face every day.
Similarly, some of the sharpest and most experienced private-sector security specialists have opened their doors and their policy documents to TSA and to their less security savvy colleagues. While virtually all school bus operators have had “security” on their plates for a very long time, few had policies in place that would address the kind of terrorism America endured on 9/11. Existing security policies, we all discovered together, needed re-thinking.
Working with sharply restricted resources and an admittedly shallow knowledge of existing security practices, TSA invested its early efforts in trying to understand what the school transportation industry was already doing for its own security. We found — not unexpectedly — a broad range of policies based primarily on each system’s anticipated types and levels of threats. They ranged from urban gang wars to disgruntled students and parents. Nowhere, however, did TSA find a system that was prepared for an incident of international terrorism.
Using one of the first tools in our TSA Highway Security toolbox, the “corporate security review (CSR),” headquarters staff visited districts around the country to identify security preparation and attitudes. We compiled a significant amount of information, but the bigger picture did not become clearer until Congress in late 2007 mandated that TSA undertake a nationwide security risk analysis of school buses.
While it took a considerable amount of time to complete, the final risk assessment document was officially submitted to Congress in early 2010. Although it is marked as “sensitive security information (SSI),” it is available to select professionals in the school transportation industry on a “need-to-know basis” by e-mailing HighwaySecurity@dhs.gov. While we can’t be too specific about the findings in this publication, we can say that it confirmed on a national basis almost everything we’d been hearing from industry leaders and individuals: They needed real information about real threats, and they needed real help in identifying and implementing effective mitigation tools.
To date, TSA has not issued security rules for the school bus industry; virtually every advance made by school transportation systems has been voluntary. We’ve stepped in with a pledge to provide timely, credible threat information as we receive it. We are confident that we’ve identified a valuable array of best practices to serve as guidance to the operators of school systems operating in America. That effort was substantially boosted last year when our partners in the major associations introduced our guidance in the National School Transportation Congress. Adopted by the highly respected session, those practices are now a vital part of the recommended actions for every school district.
In 2004, TSA and its school transportation industry partners stepped forward using congressionally earmarked grant funds to create a security awareness training program titled “School Bus Watch.” Almost simultaneously, TSA commissioned the creation of the School Transportation Security Awareness (STSA) online training program. More recently, the TSA-driven First Observer program has issued its own specific school transportation security awareness training program, which is available online at www.firstobserver.com and in classroom presentation format.
It is our objective this year to distribute a DVD with both the First Observer School Bus and STSA programs to all 14,000-plus public school systems in America, with an official request that local administrators use it as mandatory in-service training. This division has also created a school bus security pocket guide that will soon go into its second printing.
It’s only natural at the 10-year commemoration of 9/11 to ask the obvious questions. Have we been effective in these 10 years? Are we better prepared today to prevent a terrorist act in our school transportation system?
My answer is a resolute, “Yes!” But maybe not for the reason you think.
We’re better off not only because TSA or HMC are necessary to combat terrorism and domestic crime but also because the industry itself is led by some of the most dedicated and hardworking public servants I’ve ever encountered. They’ve been effective at energizing the critical issue of school transportation security and advocating the needs of the industry to find and implement ways to meet the threat. In turn, they’ve made us more effective in assembling, vetting and sharing industry best practices.
Regulations may one day follow; they are, after all, the only way to make the few reluctant operators and districts believe that the risks only increase for those who aren’t prepared. In reality, the ultimate effectiveness of the tools we’ve created since 2001 depends on the resourcefulness and dedication of the professionals who work in the school transportation industry every day.
I’m personally honored to have been part of the progress made thus far and I assure you that the TSA Highway and Motor Carrier Division remains dedicated to our partnership. Not a day goes by when we aren’t reminded of the task we share. I look forward to our continued growth — together.
Arrington is a former Maryland state trooper and is currently the GM of the Office of Highway and Motor Carrier at TSA. He can be reached directly at william.arrington@dhs.gov.
