Oklahoma schools in tight spot after thief disables bus for special-needs kids
By Alyse Jones
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CLEVELAND COUNTY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A local school district has fallen victim to a catalytic converter thief days before school starts.
Little Axe Public Schools said four catalytic converters were stolen.
The superintendent said it’s not the first time they’ve seen crime at their bus barn. They say the thief somehow got through a fence and stole two catalytic converters for students with special needs. The thief stole two more from work cars.
“It was a low thing to do. These kids depend on this bus – they have to. We don’t have another replacement bus for that bus,” Little Axe Superintendent Jay Thomas said.
The bus was broken down days before school.
“These people are extremely inconsiderate,” he said.
Now, the school hopes it can be repaired quickly, as they have no backup.
“There is no way around what that bus does,” Thomas said. “It has a wheelchair lift on it and it runs every single morning and every single evening.”
Thomas said there are around 25 students on the bus. Without it, “we have to call those parents of those 25 to 30 kids and ask them if they can – we ask them to be understanding, that we will try our best to get it repaired,” he said.
But the frustration is heightened since the bus was just repaired in November for the same crime.
“We really hoped it wouldn’t happen again,” he said.
It was a crime that cost them $2,500 to repair. Now, with inflation soaring, he said it will cost the school around $4,000, not including the other work cars.
The district is considering adding more security, although the area is double-fenced and has security cameras.
“Unfortunately, when people are dishonorable like this you have to look at the next step to keep them from doing something else,” he said.
The superintendent said Nathan’s Automotive has bent over backward to help them get the bus repaired before school starts Monday.
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