The Mukwonago Area School District and its bus transportation provider are reviewing protocols after a recent incident in which the district said a parent brought a weapon inside a lockbox on a school bus.
The incident took place on a bus from Section Elementary School the afternoon of Feb. 26. A parent from the school boarded the bus because of a reported personal safety concern.
The district learned after the Town of Mukwonago Police Department investigated that the parent had a lockbox with a gun in it, but the weapon remained secure in the lockbox and not removed at any time on the bus route, said Mukwonago Area School District Superintendent Joe Koch in a March 2 letter to parents. Koch did not specify in his letter what the personal safety concern entailed nor whether anyone was hurt. He did not immediately respond to a reporter’s phone call seeking additional information.
The district is also meeting with Dousman Transport, the bus company providing transportation service to the district, and re-establishing clear protocols regarding non-students and non-staff riding the bus. The letter did not specify whether the parent was actually riding the bus or had stepped on at one of the bus stops.
The district is also reviewing its contract with Dousman Transport to ensure expectations and procedures are clear and consistently followed and will continue updating the community as appropriate, Koch wrote.
Dousman Transport Co. President Larry Kirkley did not immediately respond to a reporter’s messages seeking comment.
In an emailed statement attributed to Town of Mukwonago Police Chief Eric Schmidt, the department said it will not be releasing any information “due to the highly sensitive nature of the underlying circumstances of this situation.”
Contact Alec Johnson at 262-875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: School bus protocols under review after gun brought on Mukwonago bus
Reporting by Alec Johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
