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KWRL, Kalama, Woodland, Ridgefield, and La Center School Bus Operations
 An open letter to the District Superintendents, District School Boards, and the Washington Of Superintendent (OSPI)
June 14th, 2021
Many parents have voiced concerns with KWRLs ability to protect our students and provide our bus drivers with proper security for night and weekend trips.
It may come as a surprise that thieves in Clark County and Cowlitz County have been targeting our buses for catalytic converters. This theft has ramped up in the recent months, but the administration at KWRL has done nothing to increase security at the bus storage lots.
Just a few months ago, the La Center lot was a target in the middle of the night / weekend without any detection. Thieves were able to cut the fence in one dark corner of the lot and freely sneak in and out of the lot taking these valuable parts from our buses rendering the bus inoperable and toxic.
After this theft, the only thing fixed was the cut fence. Cameras have not been added to the perimeter, motion sensors have not been added to the length of the fence, and tamper wires have not been added to the chain link fence to alert when the fence is cut.
This alone should raise eyebrows, but the fact that bus drivers were alone unprotected while returning after trips as the theft took place is outrageous. Bus drivers have not been notified of the potential security concerns or what actions are being taken to protect them from assault, theft or other crimes.
Shannon Barnett has taken steps to add video to buses to harass the employees, but has done nothing to protect the school districts assets such as the thousands of dollars in catalytic converters or the safety of the KWRL staff.
In fact, Shannon Barnett continues to take retaliatory actions against employees that seek union or Labor and Industry protection under the guise of “investigationsâ€.
As a parent of a Ridgefield student:
Why has behavior like this continued at Woodland School District / KWRL? Why is a supervisor encouraged to continue this willful neglect of duty with our tax dollars, and as he attacks members of our community, our bus drivers?
I ask that Kalama, Woodland, Ridgefield, and La Center school boards to look into this matter before it becomes another state school scandal. Action should be taken to upgrade perimeter security and security in the bus lots rather than bus camera systems that are currently used to reprimand bus drivers.
Home owners (tax payers) expect the boards to spend their money wisely and treat their employees with respect. Ridgefield parents, just like those of the other school boards should be swift in protecting our children and the staff from threats by the superintendent’s managers, and the criminals that operate in our poorly protected bus lots.
Respectfully
