Chillicothe Schools- Chillicothe, MO
Chillicothe R-2’s school bus drivers, along with bus drivers from area schools as well as local and area law enforcement officials, attended an active shooter training program for school bus drivers Monday morning.Chillicothe R-2 Assistant Superintendent James Ruse, who also serves as the district’s transportation director, said that a good climate exists throughout the district’s buses; however, active shooter training provides good, precautionary measures. “It’s a ‘what if’ training,” Ruse said, adding that an intrusion could happen anytime. “We wanted our people to be somewhat prepared if they come across it,” he said. Up until Monday, the district hadn’t provided training for handling this type of risk. “We’ve taken it on for school children with the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) program, but this was a gap that we hadn’t reached yet,” Ruse said. The district has had a safety training program for bus drivers in place for years. “We are required to do eight to 12 hours of training with our drivers through the year, but this active shooter training is relatively new,” he said. “It’s something you wouldn’t necessarily see associated with school buses.” “Bus drivers do a good job teaching kids how to ride the bus… back to back, seat to seat, feet on the floor; they do a good job to watch the kids and make sure they’re not being bullied,” Moore said. “Bus safety, in general, is not overlooked; but, the part of going the next step further (training for when an intruder is on the bus) has been overlooked.” Read more
