By LAURA HAMMACK, guest columnist
Last Friday, I was in my office and some traffic on our bus radio caught my attention. One of our drivers had radioed in to check on the safety of one of our young students. The driver was concerned because the person who was waiting at the stop for the student was someone who was not familiar.
The parents were called and everything ended up being just fine. I was so touched by how much that driver cared about this rider and thought to myself, “I love Brown County.” This sort of attention doesn’t happen everywhere.
Our bus drivers are very special people. They work so hard to ensure that our boys and girls are safely transported back and forth from home to school every day. They pay attention to the details and are sometimes the first to advocate on behalf of a student when concerns at home may arise.
Our drivers are first to greet the students in the morning and the last to send them home in the afternoon. They care deeply about the students on their routes and are vigilant in their efforts to keep them safe.
This vigilance is even more intensified when we experience road conditions that are challenging due to winter weather.
While we are certainly hoping for a winter season that mirrors the one we enjoyed last year, we understand that the potential for severe winter weather is here. With much appreciation to Diana Biddle, county commissioner, and Emergency Management Director Susan Armstrong, Director of Transportation Roger Cline and I were recently invited to a county planning session to prepare for severe winter weather. At this meeting, we discussed communication strategies and shared our processes for response to these weather events.
In Brown County Schools, our director of transportation, Roger Cline, and I are out driving very early when severe weather threatens so we can best understand road conditions. The decision to cancel or delay school is one that we take very seriously. We try to make these decisions with as much notice as possible; however, there are unfortunately times when decisions have to come late because conditions can change so quickly.
When a delay or cancellation is called, we have a system for notifying the news and media outlets so that the information is communicated on scrolling banners on network stations and is also communicated by several radio stations.
I will also send out a Skylert announcement to all of our parents and families who are registered within the Skyward Parent Portal. We will post the announcement to our website and on social media.
It is important for parents and caregivers to understand that there is also a potential for an early release of school if a weather event takes place during the school day. We really don’t like to release school early because of all of the challenges with ensuring that someone is home to meet our students. However, there have been occasions when an early release is the safest option. We make massive efforts in those situations to have confirmation that all students have care at home or with a sitter before the buses leave our schools.
We understand how hard it can be for our parents and caregivers to make last-minute arrangements for their children when a delay or cancellation of school takes place. When possible, we will make those decisions the night before so that arrangements can be made.
Please understand that there are sometimes very frustrating weather events that don’t start until our buses are out beginning their routes. Those can be very challenging mornings. It’s during these types of events where our drivers really shine.
Our bus drivers are true heroes of our school district. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as we enter this challenging season of weather. We are all hopeful that we will have another mild season; however, we are also prepared in case we experience anything more significant.
Thanks to all who help keep our community safe during these weather events.
Laura Hammack is superintendent of Brown County schools. She can be reached at [email protected] or 812-988-6601.
