On August 8, 2025, our Mentor Public Schools' bus drivers and bus assistants participated in S.T.A.R.T. - School Transportation Active-Threat Response Training.
The day was split into two 4-hour sessions, run by police officers, including two from our own Mentor Police Department, a Juvenile Behavioral Intelligence instructor and a Senior Special Agent from the U.S. Secret Service. The training included:
- Situational & Threat Awareness: Identifying suspicious behaviors, people, vehicles, and items.
- Techniques & Good Safety Habits: Reinforcing safety routines at the bus yard, schools, stops, and during field trips.
- Emergency Response Basics: Effective communication and use of safety equipment.
- Active Threat Response: Scenarios involving a gunman outside the bus, a gun on board, or an active shooter.
- Crisis Intervention Training: Tools for self-regulation, body language, active listening, tone of voice, and strategies for working with students in crisis.
- Responding to Active Threats: Taking immediate action, maintaining control, and interrupting violent situations using DCC (De-Stabilize, Contact, & Commands).
- Identifying Suspicious Items: Proper responses to weapons, drugs, or explosive devices found on a bus.
- Juvenile Behavioral Intelligence: Recognizing behaviors of concern, prevention through reporting, and understanding drivers’ role as critical stakeholders.
- Dealing with Physical Altercations: Addressing bullying, building trust with students, handling hostile parents, responding to domestic violence situations, and practicing evacuation/lockdown procedures.
We are grateful for the safety grant awarded through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which made it possible to bring this critical training to our district. This investment ensures that our drivers and bus assistants are better prepared to keep students safe in any situation.
We are incredibly proud of our transportation team for their active engagement, dedication to continuous learning, and unwavering commitment to making student safety their top priority every day.