If your child is stranded out on the highway, with 80 mph traffic zooming past every moment, wouldn’t your first instinct be doing whatever it takes to get him/her off of the roadside safely as soon as possible? Of course it would! It is just common sense. But common sense apparently plays little part in the emergency protocol of the Clark County School District (CCSD), especially when the jobs of a host of bureaucrats might be on the line.
It was the first road trip of the season for the Moapa Valley High School Track team on Thursday, March 7. The trip started like any other. The team of around three dozen athletes and their coaches set off from the school that afternoon on a short trip to compete in Las Vegas. Unfortunately they ran into some problems along the way.
About half way there, the yellow bus that they were using for transportation suddenly and unexpectedly broke down. The driver tried to hobble the bus as far as the Valley of Fire exit in order to get it off the highway before it gave out. But it was nothing doing. The vehicle came to a stop on the right shoulder of I-15 just a little before the exit. It was a precarious spot with cars and trucks zipping past at high speed; no place that any parent likes to see a child.
The driver was diligent and sensible in going by the book. A superior was immediately notifed and a second school bus was dispatched to the rescue. Within a short period of time the alternate vehicle was on the scene. Thank goodness! The kids could be on their way again!
But not so fast! Don’t forget, this is CCSD. It just can’t be that simple. The team was still not allowed to change buses. Apparently the combined experience and intelligence of three adult coaches and two bus drivers were not deemed sufficient to manage the safe transfer of the teens from one bus to another. Rather they were ordered to just wait in place until a transportation supervisor could arrive who was qualified to oversee the transfer. And so, with two yellow school buses now presenting a traffic hazard on the roadside, the youngsters waited more than half an hour for the supervisor whom, they hoped, would quickly get everyone to safety.
But even when the supervisor arrived it still wasn’t over yet. Now it was determined that the supervisor’s supervisor, who would have to come all the way from Las Vegas, would be required on scene to oversee this complex transfer. No one else would do. So the children and coaches waited on the shoulder of the interstate, exposed every minute to untold dangers of high speed traffic. Add it all up and the team reportedly waited more than 45 minutes there while the CCSD bureaucracy tried to determine what the definition of “safe” was. And by “safe” they seemed to be chiefly concerned about the “safeness” of their jobs.
Fortunately, a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper arrived on the scene and insisted that the transfer be made immediately. With NHP there, the CCSD officials finally concurred that it could happen. But, according to the reports, it didn’t sound like they had much of a choice. Within about five minutes all of the kids had stepped off the broken-down bus, walked the dozen steps back and boarded the other bus. Then they were, at last, on their way! The team arrived safely at their track meet about an hour late that day.
Frankly, they were fortunate to have arrived there at all. Only moments after the second bus had pulled away, a major accident occured involving motorists distracted by the emergency lights and the school bus alongside the road. The accident was serious involving no less than three vehicles. It backed up traffic on the southbound interstate late into the afternoon. How fortunate it was that this accident didn’t occur moments earlier, during that 45 minute period when the local youngsters were needlessly being exposed to danger along the highway. Who knows what might have happened?
This is just the latest example of how much the well-being of students comes above all else in the CCSD.
It is just as they like to say, the students ALWAYS come first! Well….they do unless there is an important rule or regulation, made long ago by an official in a faraway Las Vegas cubicle, that contradicts it. Then, of course, THAT would come first. Because, you know, those policies are all about the kids’ safety. Safety is paramount! Well…. it is unless there is a mid-level bureaucrat who feels he needs to justify his salary; and cover himself; by mindlessly allowing policy to get in the way of all common sense. Then, of course, THAT would come first.
But don’t forget, it’s all about the kids at CCSD! Never forget that.
