GENTRY — In conjunction with Arkansas and National School Bus Safety Week, all 1400-plus Gentry students participated in bus evacuation drills last week.

“Accidents in recent weeks involving school buses are a sober reminder of the importance of bus safety and the importance of preparing bus riders for the unexpected,” Transportation director Jason Barrett said.

The Gentry School District transports roughly 70 percent of its students daily and travels approximately 18,000 miles each month.

“At Gentry, we take bus safety very serious," Barrett said. "We are required to do bus evacuations for regular route riders. We take it a step further and have every child practice. It has been our thinking that with daily routes, field trips, activity trips, and athletic trips, there is a high likelihoodthat every Gentry student will be on a bus sometime this year.”

News, Pages 10 on 10/31/2012