When a Navy corpsman stationed at a local U.S. military base phoned in a bomb threat to San Clemente High School in Southern California last week, school buses once again accelerated into action to help in the evacuation of thousands of local students on the first day of school.
Mike Patton, director of transportation for Capistrano Valley Unified School District in south Orange County said three school buses – a transit-style school bus and two special needs buses – were dispatched on Sept. 6 after Daniel Morgan, 22, went AWOL from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and left a note in his barracks that he had planted a bomb at the high school.
Investigators found no bomb, and Morgan turned himself into authorities the following day.
The buses, which provide home-to-school transportation for the high school students who live at Camp Pendleton or whose IEP requires the service, were originally intended to be staged near the high school. Patton said school administrators made the decision to get the vehicles to San Clemente as soon as possible.
“At that point I said, ‘Well, they’re already there, they’re stuck in traffic,’ so to call them off doesn’t make sense. It worked out fine,” said Patton, adding that the scene was “chaotic” as law enforcement had to also deal with concerned parents who arrived at the high school while also searching for the bomb and keeping the students out of harm’s way.
The special needs students were evacuated first followed by the students who live at the Marine Corps base. All other students get themselves to and from the high school by other means.
At first, Patton said the students were evacuated to the school’s football stadium, but the heat that day forced a move indoors to the cafeteria. Most of the students began heading home by 1 or 1:30 p.m. Pacific time, but Patton added that some students weren’t able to head home until after 4 p.m.
