A webinar on school bus evacuation planning emphasized that no students, especially those with disabilities or special needs, should ever be put on a school bus unless transportation staff knows how to get them to safety in the event of an emergency.
This point was an important take-away from Kathleen Furneaux, executive director of the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute, during the School Transportation News live event “Training Staff for Safety Evacuating Students” on Tuesday. Her recommendation came in response to an attendee question at the conclusion of the 75-minute webinar. Furneaux said the first step to take is instilling an “evacuation attitude” with the school district or bus company organization, share expectations with staff and define exactly what those are. She noted this attitude should “trickle down all the way to students.”
During the webinar, Furneaux told some 302 attendees that the hardest part of developing a new evacuation plan could be writing the first sentence. She advised that it’s okay to actually start in the middle, for example, or even at the end and then to fill in the blanks from there. She also shared her insights and expertise in a workshop on “Writing an Effective Bus Evacuation Plan” at the STN EXPO this past July.
Kathleen Furneaux, executive director of the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute
Yesterday, Furneaux cautioned attendees to not only train school bus staff and students on what to do during an evacuation drill but also “how” to do it. While drills should be as realistic as possible, she stressed that it is still vital to communicate with students on what to expect during an actual emergency. In instances when students are confined to wheelchairs, for example, she said transportation employees should be prepared to evacuate using any means necessary. But, she added, these students should still board and egress the bus during a drill in the most appropriate means possible according to their needs, perhaps via a wheelchair lift, even though a real emergency might dictate a different response.
Furneaux also discussed the role of driver and employee fitness in terms of being able to conduct evacuation drills as well as the role that employee health has in planning. She said school districts and companies could promote health and wellness programs for drivers and attendants. However, 54 percent of 140 attendees shared during the STN live event survey that they do not currently promote such a program.
Download Kathleen Furneaux’s presentation on Writing Effective Evacuation Plans
Attendees answered several other interactive poll questions during the presentation:
- Of 185 respondents, 68 percent said their organization has a requirement that safety drills only occur on school property.
- Thirty-eight percent of 117 attendees indicated that written evacuation plans are required for all school bus routes or for only for special needs routes. The remaining 24 percent said evacuation plans are only required for regular education routes.
- Lack of inclusion from other school administrators is the biggest challenge for transportation to become involved in IEP meetings and to help influence evacuation planning, according to 61 percent of 131 respondents.
- Meanwhile, 59 percent of 129 attendees said they do not believe their school administration or company leaders lack the appropriate safety attitudes needed to make evacuation planning a priority.
Furneaux is scheduled to expand on her evacuation overview during a two-hour session in March at the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers National Conference in Frisco, Texas, just north of Dallas. Furneaux is also developing an eight-hour, school-bus evacuation seminar for the 22nd annual STN EXPO in Reno, Nevada, next July.
The webinar is archived online for 24/7 viewing and sharing with transportation staff.
