RAF ALCONBURY, England — In case of war or some other event that heightens security, the Department of Defense Dependent Schools says it is ready, with plans to put an additional adult and a global positioning system on school buses.

The bus security plan first would be enacted only in countries considered to be high-risk areas, such as Turkey, Bahrain and Italy, said Diana Ohman, director of DODDS Europe.

“We can’t put a second adult on every bus,” added Joseph Tafoya, director of the Department of Defense Education Activity, DODDS’ parent organization.

Each school will work with its local command to maintain security if the situation worsens, the two said during a visit to Alconbury elementary and high schools Monday. They are spending the week touring DODDS schools in England, along with Linda Curtis, the superintendent of the Isles District.

“We think it’s very important that the local sites and local communities have their own plans,” said Tafoya. “At each base, we have to do it a little different.”

Transporting children to and from school offers a particular problem. “That’s our worst vulnerability,” Ohman said.

She said extra money has been requested to put a second adult on the bus with the driver.

“Their main duty is to be watchful if anything is out of the norm,” she said.

Plus, she said, the global positioning system on board the bus will provide an extra measure of security and comfort.

Ohman said each school has developed a crisis plan in advance of any problems.

“It’s not like we have to think about what to do,” she said. “We already have it written down.”

Decisions such as whether to hold a basketball game or drama festival will be made at the local level, sent up to the local superintendent’s office and then to Ohman’s office. She will forward the plan to European Command for input.

For the most part, the local decisions will be upheld, but if there is disagreement, the final word will come from the top, Ohman said.

Tafoya said he was visiting schools in Bitburg, Germany, when the terror attacks on America took place on Sept. 11, 2001. He saw firsthand, he said, the ability of the school and community to work together in a troubled atmosphere.

“That taught me a good lesson that day,” he said, praising the effort he saw as he watched the local officials take charge.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, we have a lot of practice at this,” he said.

Ohman and Tafoya also said the recent effort to trim almost $18 million from the school budget in Europe was tough, but unavoidable. The cuts were mandated by the Department of Defense.

“We’re a school system out of synch time-wise with the federal budget,” Tafoya said.

Unlike normal public school districts in the United States that have a budget before the school year begins, DODEA schools begin before the federal budget is set in October. That will always require a second look at expenses.

“We will always have to do it in one form or the other,” he said.

Ohman said the recent trimming of the budget by 3 percent was the result of hard work and long hours by the district superintendents.

“We worked hard,” she said. “The superintendents were sequestered in the conference room in my office for two days.”

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