(Walhalla, SC)-------------------------------------Back on April 1st, Deputies from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office conducted bus safety drills with bus drivers from the School District of Oconee County.
The goal of the training was to help prepare the drivers to deal with potential incidents on their school bus.
The drills took place at Walhalla High School and involved Deputies assigned to the Criminal Investigations and School Safety Bureau, the Special Operations Bureau and the Uniform Patrol Bureau, as well as personnel assigned to Oconee County Emergency Services. The drills were observed by officials from the School District of Oconee County, which included the bus drivers, and from the South Carolina Department of Education.
The drills involved three difference scenario’s that allowed for participation by the bus driver’s in each scenario. For security and tactical reasons, specific information about the scenarios will not be released by the Sheriff’s Office.
“Building partnerships to promote a safer community is not just our vision statement here at the Sheriff’s Office. It is a commitment to work with different agencies and our citizens in order to help make our County as safe as we can,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “The safety of all of our citizens is always our top priority. By partnering with the School District of Oconee County and its employees, along with the South Carolina Department of Education, these drills provided great training to the bus drivers in Oconee County to help them know what to do in the event that they should encounter a problem. From a public safety standpoint, it provided us a chance to further train on how to bring about a safe resolution to a situation that could possibly arise on a school bus in order to help keep everyone on board as safe as possible.”