Police searching for
culprits who ruined
ignition on 46 vehicles
Jackson schools one day
Police searching for
culprits who ruined
ignition on 46 vehicles
JACKSON — Transportation staff at the Jackson School District worked throughout the day on Monday to repair vandalized school vehicles to ensure that the district was able to open on Tuesday.
According to a press release, the K-12 school district was forced to close Monday after employees discovered that 45 buses and one van had been vandalized. The vehicles affected represent about 40 percent of the district’s bus fleet.
Schools reopened as planned on Tuesday after repairs to the vandalized buses were completed as of 2 p.m. Monday.
"We realize the decision to close school is a hardship for many parents, but there was no other option," said Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella. "Because of these vandals we were simply unable to transport all 9,400 of our students to school safely and we had to close school for the day."
The Jackson Police Department is investigating the incident.
Transportation staff members who arrived at the bus lot on Don Connor Boulevard early Monday morning to warm up the buses got about halfway through the fleet when they encountered buses that could not be started, according to the press release. Closer inspection revealed that someone had put toothpicks and glue into the ignition switches of 45 buses and one mid-sized van.
"This kind of vandalism is not a prank, it is not a joke," Gialanella said. "It is a very serious act of malice that had very real consequences for thousands of students, parents and staff members."
The majority of the district’s buses are kept in a bus yard surrounded by a locked fence. That yard, like all district schools, is patrolled by the district’s security department. All of the vehicles that were vandalized were inside that locked bus yard.
"We have been investigating additional security measures for the transportation facility and will obviously consider this recent incident in our discussions with security consultants," Gialanella said.
Gialanella said the district is working with the police department to try to determine who is responsible. Meanwhile, transportation staff members worked for hours on Monday to repair the damaged ignition switches.
"Our transportation staff has worked hard all day and deserves our thanks," Gialanella said Monday. "Because of their hard work, we are able to open Tuesday with buses that are safe and sound."