Our Public Information Request to BISD About Cause or Causes of School Bus Fires Sent to Attorney General

Photo by Miguel Roberts, Brownsville Herald

This past October two BISD school buses caught fire within a week, carrying 29 and 30 student passengers respectively.  Since both buses catching fire were made by the same company, a team of inspectors hired by, but independent of the International Corporation, known also as IC or Navistar, flew in to inspect their buses.  BISD Superintendent Dr. Carl Montoya also brought in an independent inspection team.  Neither team's report has ever been made public by BISD.

Photo by Miguel Roberts, Brownsville Herald

Even before the two reports were finalized, human nature could explain the attention given to the specific manufacturer of the two buses catching fire, as in BISD Trustee Presas-Garcia's comment at the time:  "We have to face the battles, but we overcame that. We all understood it was Thomas buses and Thomas buses were purchased. So International buses were not purchased this time around. We want whats best for our students and safety is priority for our district."

Had the reports identified a manufacturing defect, one could expect a quick national and international reaction, recalls, lawsuits and probes into the manufacturer's methods, techniques and quality control.  

Drue Brown, BISD Public
Information Officer

Still, without being able to examine the actual reports, anything said about the cause of the fires is simply speculation.

Our initial Public Information Request to obtain both reports as to the cause or causes of the school bus fires of October 2013 was filed via email with Drue Brown, BISD's Public Information Officer.

The ten business days public entities have by law to respond expired today and I called Mrs. Brown.  

BISD Staff Attorney Miguel Salinas

Mrs. Brown indicated she was aware of my request, that it had been sent to BISD's legal department.   Brown mentioned possible "pending litigation," stating that I would likely receive some paperwork from Staff Attorney Miguel Salinas.  

Just to clarify things, I reiterated that my request was for two reports, one initiated by the International Corporation, the other by a firm hired by BISD.  To forewarn me, Mrs. Brown indicated that one of the reports may not have been submitted to writing.  When I questioned the reasonableness of such a report not being written, Mrs. Brown thanked me for my interest and ended the call.

Of course, a report is not complete until it is submitted in written form.  No check would even be issued for a mere oral statement that could not be corroborated.  

Below are the two documents we received today from BISD.  Can anyone seriously question that knowing exactly what caused these school bus fires is necessary to protect the district's students?