Like only employees could drive the buses. What a crock! But thanks for asking and posting the reply.
They could have just left the keys.
It's starting to sound ominously like the State/Local government drew up plans for such disaster, then simply filed them away without telling anybody else about them. ;(
All the politicians made sure to get themselves out too.
Um, if they drove the busses with evacuees, wouldn't they be evacuated then also? Along with, oh, say, thousands of other people?
These folks were idiots. Let the drivers bring their families.
Those individuals could have occupied the driver's seat in the schoolbus, as they were leaving the city.
They (the employees) could have evacuated the city in the buses with people on them.
Duh.
OK it official: the term "Chinese's Fire Drill" will now be called a "New Orleans' Hurricane Drill"
Uh, you reckon at least one driver would've evacuated with his/her bus?
And then there's the explanation that the School Board wouldn't allow their buses to be used at all
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1479615/posts?page=44#44
NO apparently had no "first responders" wonder what they spent their allocated dollars for "first responders" on?
What a doofus response!!! But then, maybe he wouldn't have allowed other city employees to drive those buses.
Please send your original email and it's response to Rush, Sean Hannity, etc. I think this is very important news that should be shared with the general public.
Thanks for posting. I am continually amazed at the replies I've heard from liberal Democrats as to WHY those buses weren't used. It isn't like you need to graduate from Bus Driving 101 to operate one, not like they were complicated jet airplanes, how hard could it be. As I pick up my kids from school every afternoon, I notice MOST of the bus drivers look like ordinary Mom's driving buses as their part time job and NOT a specially trained captain or co-pilot at the nearest airport. I'd take my chances of escaping on a bus even with an "inexperienced" bus driver with NO bathrooms vs. experiencing the wrath of a category 4 or 5 hurricane.
Deana
I don't think this really has anything to do with Alvarez & Marsal's actions or lack thereof. They are under contract to perform certain management functions for the school district. That doesn't give them the authority to order school bus drivers to stay in the city when the mayor and governor have announced a mandatory evacuation, or to order them to drive buses for a non-school related purpose, given that the city's official evacuation plan contained no such provisions.
The city's lack of a rational evacuation plan is way beyond the scope of Alvarez & Marsal's responsibility or authority, and chaos was no doubt already well underway by the time anyone from Alvarez & Marsal realized that 1) the city had no effective plan, and 2) such a plan would have necessitated the use of school buses (though not necessarily of the regular school bus drivers). Some cities contract out for school bus service, so it's possible that the buses aren't owned by the school district or the city, and that the drivers aren't employees of the district or of the city.
A&M is a world-class turnaround manager. They aren't stupid -- they would neither skip out on their responsibilities in a situation like this, nor jeopardize their continued corporate existence by trying to take charge of the emergency evacuation of a city without any authority. Blaming A&M makes even less sense than blaming Goerge Bush.
I think what's most damning about this statement is that these city employees apparently knew well enough to get out of town, but the mayor's office dragged it's feet getting the word out on the street.
But...but...but... in the official NOLA hurricane evacuation plan, the school buses were designated for use to take people out! If all the drivers were among those who were ordered to high-tail it out early on, who was supposed to drive the buses in the actual evacuation? (paging Jabbar Gibson, Mr. Jabbar Gibson)
Tell them to compare it to what happened after 9/11 in NY and ask them... "Who do you want running your government?"
The Republicans ain't great, but compared to the Rats... There ain't NO COMPARISON!!