School employees in Bibb County, Georgia, are training to be licensed school bus drivers, learning how to parallel park, inspect the buses and how to look out for road signs and railroad crossings. For some, driving is easy, but it’s a lengthy application process. To become a bus driver in Bibb County, you have to apply online and interview. You must pass a background check and a written test for the Commercial Driver’s License permit. You also must pass the driving test. There’s a lot that drivers have to learn, and most of the training doesn’t happen behind the wheel. Bibb County Driving Instructor Enos Curry said the driving students take class after field training to learn policy and procedures. Curry said the licensing takes time, and it’s hard to find drivers. “Most transportation departments have a bus driver shortage because of lack of pay,” Curry said. “And now with the times being so different, the upbringing of children is different.” Rutland High School Coach Cindy Folendore is getting certified so she can drive her tennis and cross country teams to games and tournaments. “It’s fun. It’s not bad at all,” Folendore said. “It’s not difficult. It’s like driving a full-sized car.”
Public displays of anger are a bad idea—someone will likely end up in handcuffs. Guadalupe Morales, 47, and her mother, Matilde Morales Juarez, 68, are stark reminders of this point as the pair are accused of stalling a Texas school bus by boarding and refusing to get off during a shouting match with the driver and a rider. Small children were aboard the bus reportedly seen crying in a bus-cam video. One of Morales’ middle school daughters allegedly began fighting with a middle school male after the 74-year-old bus driver made an unscheduled stop because of loud and disruptive behavior by his passengers. After the driver told the kids to settle down if they wanted to get home, one of Morales’ daughters and a similarly aged boy began to fight. The other Morales daughter reportedly joined the fray, which lasted until the driver broke up the conflict. When he pulled up in front of the girls’ home, the driver was confronted by Morales and Juarez. The women complained about the fight to the driver, who told them they could file a complaint at the school the next day. Juarez allegedly stepped onto the bus and refused to get off. The women reportedly yelled at the driver and Juarez and a student allegedly got into a shouting match. The bus could not leave until New Boston police arrived and ordered the women away. Both have been charged with unlawful restraint and each posted bond on $4,000 in bail.
Summer is a time when Bowling Green students can forget about school, but the Warren County School system never forgets about students: The School Bus Cafe, for the kids it serves, might be the difference between health and hunger. “This year we took summer meals on the road,” said Gina Howard, the Director of Nutrition and Dining Services for this Kentucky district. The bus stops in six different places around Bowling Green, Monday through Friday, giving any kid 18 and under a free lunch, regardless of whether or not they attend Warren County Schools. Sharon Belcher, a cafeteria manager, said the students had a way of finding their way into your heart. “It makes you very happy, it puts a smile on your face,” she added. “It makes you feel like you’ve really done something when you’re helping a child.” Even for workers who were seeing the feeding program in action for the very first year could tell it was something worth keeping. “It’s rewarding,” said Debbie Thomas, a baker at Plano Elementary. On any given day, the School Bus Cafe serves about 150 students. Howard gave much of the credit for the program’s success to the Transportation Department, who helped them transform a bus into a dining room. “Nutrition is important whether we’re in school or whether it’s the summertime, and we want to provide for those families, and also be able to provide that nutrition for our kids.”
Children in Crystal Lake, Illinois, are encouraged to meet their school bus driver at an open house hosted by the Transportation Joint Agreement, the bus service shared between Districts 47 and 155. The August even is the fourth annual gathering by TJA. The open house is a free for incoming District 47 kindergartners and early childhood students and their families to meet the bus (and its drivers), learn about bus safety, ask questions and even board and ride the bus before the first day of school. The free event features a first aid and bus safety equipment station, a safe seating demonstration, snacks, games, activities, and more. One of the event’s main attractions is an interactive bus safety show starring Buster the Bus, a miniature “talking” school bus.
