All of us are aware of the

dangers of thunderstorms and lightning, with the

exception of the Fayette County School System

Transportation Department.

On Sept. 8, my child and

several others were put off the bus, at the top of a

hill, in the middle of a thunderstorm, with lightning

crackling overhead.

Fortunately, this time, the

children only got soaked.

I was furious. I called Mr.

John Thompson, the new head of school transportation, to

inquire what the policy was on letting children off the

bus in the middle of a violent thunderstorm? His answer

shocked me, "We have no policy."

I responded, "Will it

take a child getting struck and killed by lightning to

get a common sense policy?"

He promised to get back to

me. Well, that was two weeks ago. We had more

thunderstorms in Fayette County the other day, and, you

guessed it, nothing has changed.

For a school system that is

supposedly so concerned with our children's safety, there

seem to be some rather large gaps between the rhetoric

and the reality.

Lynn Bianco

Peachtree City

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