School Bus Fleet, April 2019

NEWS CLIFTON PARK N Y A school district here recently partnered with the Transportation Security Administration TSA for training related to security and incident command Alfred Karam the director of transportation for Shenendehowa Central Schools told School Bus Fleet that the district had the idea for the training after the department underwent safety and security audits conducted by the TSA in 2015 and 2018 The TSA through its Highway Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement BASE review performs audits of transportation entities evaluates security programs ofers technical assistance and shares best practices for security according to the agencys website The audits performed for Shenendehowa Central Schools focused on four key assessment areas management and accountability personnel security facilities security and vehicle security They looked at our policies and procedures gave us a score based on the assessment STRENGTH STANDARDS HEAVY DUTY SECUREMENT Iv Innovation Ac Accessibility Sa Safety Dl Dealers Qa Quality Sr Ta Training Strength St Standards St Standards Kn Knowledge Ed Education Sa Sales Id Independece Br Brackets Ft Features Fm Floor Mounts Fr Freedom Co Courses Sm Seminars Dr Drivers 11 APRIL MAY 2019 SCHOOL BUS FLEET and also provided us with some review recommendations Karam added On March 7 the district followed up the audits with a two hour training workshop in which the TSA presented the transportation departments office staf with two security scenarios The first scenario included reports of suspicious individuals surveilling the districts bus garage while the second dealt with reports of one of the districts buses being hijacked The tabletop demonstration which is called the TSAs Exercise Information System EXIS guided staf members through a series of questions testing their response to the two events Staf members became a part of the incident command team through this process and they were put through the training to understand each others roles Karam said The training was an absolute success across the board because my team learned more about themselves and each other than they had ever learned before While the next step of the TSAs training program requires risk mitigation assessment Karam said Shenendehowa Central Schools will surpass that step of the program and move forward with the TSAs Security Enhancement Through Assessment SETA The transportation department will use SETA a three step process to test school bus driver compliance with the departments policies and procedures During the first step TSA representatives will come to the district and perform an unannounced observation of drivers conducting pre and post trips and other standard protocols In the second step TSA representatives will share the assessment results with the transportation department as a whole To complete the process TSA representatives will conduct another impromptu observation to reassess the drivers progress in adhering to the districts security standards Weve already changed our daily vehicle inspection reports and added recommended interview questions for hiring new employees based on the TSAs recommendations Karam said The district may complete another audit in a year or two he added Shenendehowa Central Schools holds a total of six safety training refreshers a year including active shooter training Were always changing gears and doing something diferent Karam added Its a valuable lesson to keep at the forefront to help employees maintain their focus on the safety of our students Shenendehowa Central Schools transportation staff participated in a two hour training workshop led by the Transportation Security Administration Photo courtesy Shenendehowa Central Schools New York District Receives TSA Audits Training By Sadiah Thompson QSTRAINT COM QRT 360 Iq Testing Wc Wheelchair Oc Occupant Pg Passenger Aq Aqademy Ex Expert Sp Support Sv Service Sl Seamless Ff Forward Facing Rf Rear Facing Qb QUBE Mx QRT MAX Dx QRT Deluxe Sd QRT Standard In INQLINE Qt QUANTUM Qp QPOD Qk QLK 150 Rm Remote Is Installers Q QRT 360