Oak Grove schools resume bus routes in the afternoon after vandals slash tires

After vandals slashed 35 tires on school buses, Oak Grove students had to find other ways to school Thursday morning.

The vandalism, discovered at 5:30 a.m., disabled 15 buses and disrupted regular Thursday morning service. But Oak Grove school district officials did not cancel classes, and bus service was restored for the afternoon.

“The persons responsible for vandalizing our buses obviously wanted to interrupt the school day, but we were able to hold classes despite their intent, thanks to our school community,” Superintendent Freddie Doherty said.

School attendance was close to normal, Doherty said.

School district officials in Odessa and Grain Valley offered buses to Oak Grove, which borrowed one Grain Valley vehicle. Using that bus and one Oak Grove bus made road ready by Durham School Services, the district sent band students to a state competition Thursday in Columbia.

“We are very disappointed that someone intentionally damaged our property and caused disruption to the service we pride ourselves on,” said Molly Hart, a Durham spokeswoman. “We apologize for the inconvenience that this caused to our students and their families.”

The bus company will work with school district and police officials to investigate, Hart said.

The parking facility for the Oak Grove buses is not fenced, said Hart.

“We are currently revisiting security measures,” she said.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 7:54 AM with the headline "Oak Grove schools resume bus routes in the afternoon after vandals slash tires."