When It Comes To Safety Drill, Drill, Drill

By Susan Coney

Transportation director Tony DiLonardo along with his assistant Cathy Hydeck arrived at Sandy Hook Elementary School bright and early last Thursday morning to conduct a bus evacuation drill.

“We conduct the drills twice a year, fall and spring, at every grade level. You never know when a driver will have to do this by themselves out on the road somewhere and we have to be prepared,” Mr DiLonardo said. He went on to say that the bus driver alerts the children ahead of time and selects a few older students to assist in the evacuation procedure.

“The younger kids really get into it, the older ones seem a little put out by it, but we have to do it,” the transportation director said. As standard procedure the students exit the bus in the event of an emergency via the back door with a sit and slide escape method. Mr DiLonardo said that all drills have run smoothly so far and that every school in the district will have participated in the practice drill by the end of October.