BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — The new school year is in full swing, and Bay District Schools are making sure their students are prepared for an emergency.
During the next month, all 46 schools in the district will be conducting emergency bus evacuation drills.
“The Department of Education requires us to conduct emergency evacuation drills a couple of times a year,” said Bay District Schools transportation director Michael Carter.
They want students to know exactly what to do if something should happen while riding on their school bus.
“You want the students to be familiar with the process so that you are not trying to explain the process during the heat of the emergency,” Carter said.
During a drill, each principal will decide if they want students to exit through the front door or jump out the back exit of the bus. Each drill is timed and students have a total of two minutes to be completed evacuated from the bus.
Besides the front door and back exit, each school bus is equipped with a roof exit and six window exits.
Their main goal is making sure students stay safe and have all the information they need on how to react during an urgent situation.
“We’re hauling the world’s most precious cargo, which is your children,” said safety and training officer Gary Montoya. “So we want to be prepared and not be chaotic during an emergency.”
All Bay District Schools must have their first-semester bus drills completed before September 20th.
