Hollywood rarely if ever does justice to the school bus industry. Movies and television often push the stereotypes of child-hating, curmudgeons behind the wheel. While this stereotype was largely absent in “The Lost Bus,” streaming on Apple TV, the film portrayed driving a school bus as a dead-end job. It is based on a true story, but the real-life details paint a more complete picture.
Matthew McConaughey stars as Kevin McKay, a school bus driver for Paradise Unified School District in Northern California, who saved a bus load of students and their two teachers (not one, like the movie portrays) from an elementary school that was in the path of the tragic 2018 Camp Fire—to date the deadliest wildfire in state history. McConaughey is a great actor, but from what I’ve read about McKay, the character doesn’t quite match the man.
I reached out to McKay for this column and never received a response. Still, I read that he was a consultant for the film. McKay is portrayed as down-on-his luck, barely able to rub two pennies together, divorced, caring for his ill mother, and at odds with his teenage son. The character is more concerned with getting additional hours than getting his bus back to the garage for a scheduled PM with the head mechanic. He nods in acknowledgement to his students as they board, but he appears distracted.
Journalist Lizzie Johnson, author of “Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive An American Wildfire,” tells the full story. McKay was a former local high school football star who had a daughter as a teenager. His promising sports and academic careers derailed but he managed to carve out a successful stint as a manager of a Walgreen’s and later as a pharmacy technician, only to grow discouraged and quit after watching the opioid epidemic explode.
He returned to school—yes, like in the movie his beloved dog died, not long after his father succumbed to cancer—with the hope of becoming a teacher. The Paradise Unified poster seeking school bus drivers looked to be a perfect fit for his class schedule. He was also used to long commutes around Northern California visiting Walgreen’s stores.
Johnson’s book recounts the district’s hiring board asking McKay why he wanted the job. He discussed, Karen, his middle school bus driver in Paradise, who was always armed with a smile, an encouraging word and a bag of chocolate at Christmas. He left the officials in tears, as Karen had recently retired and they were planning on having lunch with her later in the day.
Johnson’s book portrays McKay as a caring, attentive driver, emulating Karen the best he could. That Kevin McKay was absent from “The Lost Bus.” By and large, school bus drivers are some of the most caring, dedicated and passionate people you’ll meet. Many of them climb the career ladder into administrative jobs. I know plenty of transportation directors who started in the industry behind the wheel.
I’ve read many opinions on social media from student transporters on “The Lost Bus.” The movie can’t be viewed through a lens of accuracy when it comes to student transportation operations. No audience is going to sit through a 30-minute scene of a pre-trip inspection. Transportation operations at Paradise Unified are also depicted as chaotic and unorganized. Actress Ashlie Atkinson plays “Ruby,” a nod to real-life Director of Transportation Rubina Hartwig.
I contacted Hartwig to get her perspective of the storyline. She also did not respond, but several years ago she told me the entire experience was too traumatic for her to speak publicly about. Completely understandable. She did attend the movie premiere in September along with McKay, his son, and teacher Mary Ludwig, played by actress America Ferrera. (The other teacher on board the real lost bus declined to be a part of the film.) The Paradise Unified superintendent’s office did tell me the district played no role in production and producers never reached out.
In the end, while biographical, “The Lost Bus” is a thrilling ride that relies on the imagination. Filmmaker Paul Greengrass told People magazine some moments were “either exaggerated or collapsed.” McKay added he shared his perspective and some of that made it into the film. McConaughey has said he used some aspects of McKay’s story but made the character his own. The realism in “The Lost Bus” is the overall theme of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. What the viewing public needs to realize is school bus drivers perform extraordinary acts multiple times a day for the entire school year. Those instances simply don’t make the news or a Hollywood movie.
Editor’s Note: As reprinted from the November 2025 issue of School Transportation News.
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