Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #48 "When a Community Asks Questions: The Ozark Band Instrument Incident"

Transcript

Episode #48 "When a Community Asks Questions: The Ozark Band Instrument Incident" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Some podcasts have experts. This is not one of those podcasts.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: This is one guy, a microphone, a cup of coffee,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and absolutely no guarantee where any of this is going.
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  Speaker 1: From small town Arkansas to Washington, D.C., from politics and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: current events to history, space, faith, and whatever else happens
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to get under his skin. He'll ask the questions. He'll
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: give you his opinion. And every once in a while,
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  Speaker 1: he might even know what he's talking about. No fancy degree,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: no corporate talking points, just an ordinary guy trying to
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  Speaker 1: make sense of an increasingly strange world. Ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: this is the Kevin Stone Podcast.
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  Speaker 2: All right, everybody, welcome to the Kevin Stone Podcast. Now,
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  Speaker 2: I just need to let you know that this is
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  Speaker 2: not CNN. This is not Fox News. It's not some big, high,
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  Speaker 2: fancy place. And you got one person here who's trying
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: to learn how to push all these buttons and make
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  Speaker 2: this work. So please bear with me. Today, we're talking
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: about something that happened right here in the Ozark School
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  Speaker 2: District involving our hillbilly marching band. On October 13th, four
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  Speaker 2: banned instruments fell from a storage compartment under a school
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  Speaker 2: bus while it was traveling down Interstate 40. Now, that's
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  Speaker 2: concerning enough by itself, but what really got people talking
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  Speaker 2: was a letter that went out on October 15th suggesting
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  Speaker 2: that families might file claims through their own insurance to
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  Speaker 2: replace the instrument. Now, I can understand why that raised
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  Speaker 2: some questions. These instruments were being transported on a school
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  Speaker 2: bus under the school supervision. So naturally, people wanted to
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  Speaker 2: know what happened, who was responsible, and whether the families
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  Speaker 2: were going to be stuck paying for something that they
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  Speaker 2: didn't cause. But here's the thing. I don't want to
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  Speaker 2: sit here and guess about what happened. And I certainly
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  Speaker 2: don't want to turn something into a scandal just because
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  Speaker 2: people are talking about it on Facebook. So I contacted
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  Speaker 2: the Ozark School District and sent six questions to Superintendent
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  Speaker 2: Zane Vanderpool. And Mr. Vanderpool responded with answers to all
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  Speaker 2: six questions. And today we're going to go through those
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  Speaker 2: questions and his answers exactly as they were provided. You
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  Speaker 2: can hear the information and decide for yourself what you think.
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  Speaker 2: The first question was, what has the district determined caused
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  Speaker 2: the instruments to fall from the bus compartment? Was there
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  Speaker 2: a mechanical failure, an unsecured compartment, or is the cause
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  Speaker 2: still under investigation? And Mr. Vanderpool answered, the compartment door
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  Speaker 2: was unsecured. Note that students were not at risk of
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  Speaker 2: harm and no students were injured. This was an undercarriage compartment. Well,
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  Speaker 2: that gives us an answer. According to the superintendent, the
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  Speaker 2: compartment door wasn't secured. He also makes it clear that
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  Speaker 2: no students were injured, and that's certainly good news. But
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  Speaker 2: there's another part of this that concerns me. Those instruments
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  Speaker 2: fell from a moving bus on Interstate 40. That's a
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  Speaker 2: highway where vehicles are traveling at high speeds. And while
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  Speaker 2: we're thankful no students were hurt, we also have to
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  Speaker 2: think about the people traveling behind that bus. Now let's
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  Speaker 2: move on to the next question. What district procedures governs
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: checking storage compartments before departure, and who is responsible for
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  Speaker 2: that check? Mr. Vanderpool answered, band directors or adult volunteers
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  Speaker 2: typically secure compartment doors after students load instruments or materials,
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  Speaker 2: but drivers should also check compartment doors as part of
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  Speaker 2: the pre-trip inspection. In this instance, a band director was
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  Speaker 2: also the bus driver. The oversight might have occurred because
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  Speaker 2: of all the hats he was wearing and still being
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  Speaker 2: on the emotional high of that superior rating. I want
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  Speaker 2: to point something out here. The superintendent is acknowledging that
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  Speaker 2: there was an oversight. He also explains that the band
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  Speaker 2: director was serving as a bus driver that day, and
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  Speaker 2: he suggests that having several responsibilities may have contributed to
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  Speaker 2: what happened. And I can understand how somebody who's handling
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  Speaker 2: several jobs might overlook something. Once we understand how a
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  Speaker 2: mistake happened, we should learn from it. And that's what
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  Speaker 2: accountability is supposed to be about. Figuring out what went
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  Speaker 2: wrong and making sure it doesn't happen again. And that
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  Speaker 2: brings us to the safety question. Was law enforcement or
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  Speaker 2: highway authorities notified were any injuries, crashes, or damage to
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  Speaker 2: other vehicles reported to the district? And Mr. Vanderpool answered,
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  Speaker 2: to my knowledge, authorities were not notified. The district is
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  Speaker 2: unaware of any related reports. And I'm glad there haven't
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  Speaker 2: been any reported injuries or crashes brought to the district's attention.
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  Speaker 2: But highway safety is still something worth taking seriously. So
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  Speaker 2: the next question was, was the compartment inspected after the
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  Speaker 2: incident and what repairs or changes in procedures have been made? Mr.
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  Speaker 2: Vanderpool responded, the compartments were inspected later that night and
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  Speaker 2: no repairs were necessary. Okay, so according to the superintendent,
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  Speaker 2: the compartments were inspected that night and no repairs were necessary.
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  Speaker 2: And that fits with his earlier explanation that the door
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  Speaker 2: was unsecured rather than mechanically broken. One thing his answer
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  Speaker 2: doesn't specifically address is whether the district has changed any
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  Speaker 2: of its procedures since this happened. And that's something we
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  Speaker 2: may want to follow up on. Because if this was
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  Speaker 2: a mistake in checking the compartment, the next question is
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  Speaker 2: how do you keep that mistake from happening again? So
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  Speaker 2: now we've moved on to the equipment. Have permanent replacements
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  Speaker 2: been ordered or provided for all four instruments? How will
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  Speaker 2: replacements for the privately owned instruments be funded, and will
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  Speaker 2: those replacements belong to the affected students? Mr. Vanderpool responded,
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  Speaker 2: Orders have been placed for all four instruments as a
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  Speaker 2: permanent replacement. These instruments should be delivered well before the
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  Speaker 2: November 2nd contest. The three students that were affected will
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  Speaker 2: own the respective replacements. The district's band budget will fund
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  Speaker 2: the cost of the instruments, though we will accept money
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  Speaker 2: donations to help offset the cost. Now that's some good news.
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  Speaker 2: All four instruments have been ordered. The three students who
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  Speaker 2: were affected will own their respective replacement instruments. And according
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  Speaker 2: to the superintendent, the district's band budget is funding the replacements.
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  Speaker 2: Although the district will accept donations to help with those costs.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's important for the... I think that's important
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  Speaker 2: information for the community to have. Because one of the
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  Speaker 2: biggest concerns people brought up was whether families were going
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  Speaker 2: to have to pay for the instruments that were lost
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  Speaker 2: while being transported by the school. Which brings us to
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  Speaker 2: our final question. What was the district's intended approach to
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  Speaker 2: replacement costs when the October 15th letter mentioned families insurance
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  Speaker 2: and did that approach change before the clarifications? Mr. Vanepoel responded,
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  Speaker 2: there was never an intention for students or families to
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  Speaker 2: pay for the replacements. As part of follow-up, students and
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  Speaker 2: families were assured that they would not be responsible for
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  Speaker 2: the replacement cost. At the time of the October 15th memo,
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  Speaker 2: the suggestion for insurance claims was made because the district
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  Speaker 2: was uncertain if the district's claim could include the student-owned
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  Speaker 2: instruments as part of the property claims. The district has
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  Speaker 2: filed a property damage claim for all four instruments and
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  Speaker 2: they await a response. Alright, that's an important clarification. According
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  Speaker 2: to Superintendent Vanderpool, the district never intended for the students
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  Speaker 2: or their families to pay for the replacement instruments. He
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  Speaker 2: explains that the insurance suggestion was made because the district
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  Speaker 2: wasn't sure whether its own property claim could include the
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  Speaker 2: instruments owned by the students. And he confirms that the
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  Speaker 2: district has now filed a property damage claim covering all
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  Speaker 2: four instruments. They're waiting on a response to that claim.
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  Speaker 2: So there are two things we need to keep separate here. First,
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  Speaker 2: the original letter really did mention filing insurance claims from
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  Speaker 2: the families. That's not something people just made up. Second,
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  Speaker 2: the superintendent has now clarified that the families will not
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  Speaker 2: be responsible for the replacement costs. Both of those things matter.
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  Speaker 2: And I think it's fair to acknowledge both. Now, I
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  Speaker 2: want to thank Superintendent Zane Vanderpool for taking the time
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  Speaker 2: to answer these questions. He responded to all six questions
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  Speaker 2: we sent him, and I appreciate that. I also want
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  Speaker 2: to congratulate the Ozark Hillbilly Marching Band on earning that
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  Speaker 2: superior rating. That's something those students and the directors worked
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  Speaker 2: hard for, and I don't want this incident to overshadow
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  Speaker 2: their accomplishment. Their next contest is scheduled for November 2nd
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: at War Memorial Stadium, and I wish them the very best.
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  Speaker 2: Now here's something I want everybody to understand about what
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  Speaker 2: we're trying to do here at this podcast. I live here.
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  Speaker 2: I work here. This is my community too. When people
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  Speaker 2: bring us concerns or questions about things happening in Ozark
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  Speaker 2: and Franklin County, we're going to do our best to
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  Speaker 2: find the answers. Sometimes those answers may confirm a concern.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes they may clear up a misunderstanding. And sometimes they
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  Speaker 2: may leave us with a few more questions. And that's okay.
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  Speaker 2: Because the goal isn't to make somebody look bad. The
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  Speaker 2: goal is to get information out there so people can
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  Speaker 2: make up their own minds. And I think we're all
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  Speaker 2: better off when we have the facts. Thanks for spending
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: some time with me today, and you can find the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Kevin Stone Podcast on YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 2: and Spreaker. Until next time, take care of yourselves, take
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: care of each other, and I'll see you right here
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: on the Kevin Stone Podcast.