WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Jefferson County School Bus Drivers Taking Terrorism Training

Jefferson County School Bus Drivers Taking Terrorism Training

By Eric Flack

(LOUISVILLE) -- Thousands of Kentuckiana children will be under increased security this year on the way to and from school. Jefferson County school bus drivers are among those now required to take terrorism training classes. WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack has more.

It's always good to have your kids back home. Even when they've been in the hands of people you trust.

"When you can't watch over them, you've got to worry about: is somebody else watching over them for you?" said Regina Wilder, mother of two kids who started class Tuesday at year-round school Jacob Elementary.

This year, Jefferson County bus drivers will be watching closer than ever before, as a result of new terrorism training required by the school system. Daily safety inspections will be used to check for more than engine trouble.

David Breitenstein is one of the people training bus drivers on what to look out for. He says they'll be checking their vehicles each day for signs that "somebody's changed something, somebody's cut a brake hose, anything out of the ordinary."

Once on the road, drivers have been instructed on how to identify and report suspicious activity.

"Drivers are doing the same route day after day after day," said Director of Transportation Rick Caple, "so they know when something doesn't look right in their community."

Also new this year: security cameras and motion detectors installed at all the bus compounds around the county, at a cost of $100,000. The goal is to make sure that no buses inside the compounds are tampered with overnight.

The school system decided to put the new safety measures in place before terrorists bombed three trains and a bus in London a couple weeks ago. And Caple says buses are still the safest way to get to school.

But for Regina Wilder, there is no such thing as being too safe, especially when it comes to student safety. "To me that would be the way to get to us, is through our children."

Other school systems in Kentucky and Indiana are also requiring terrorism training for bus drivers this year.

The National Association for Pupil Transportation has been pushing for training nationwide since terrorists took over a school in Russia and killed more than 300 people last October.

Online Reporter: Eric Flack

Online Producer: Michael Dever