With the school bus driver shortage reaching unimaginable heights, affecting districts from California to Florida, and all those states in between, transportation departments are desperate for warm bodies. To show the nitty-gritty of the job, one TV reporter hopped behind the wheel of a yellow beast to see what the job entails so that others may realize their destinies as student transporters. The reporter, Meredith Hillgartner took the bus for a spin and said if she could learn to drive the bus, anyone could do it. Durham School Services needs at least five more school bus drivers at their Wolfforth depot for the upcoming school year. In Lubbock, they need even more. The transportation company posted signs across Lubbock County, at all schools, asking for drivers to apply. Randi Bullard, operations supervisor, said there are plenty of benefits to working for Durham. “Well you get kind of a flexible schedule,” he said. “So when the kids are out of school you can be with them. Or if you have children that aren’t in school yet and you don’t want to pay for daycare you can bring them to work with you. A lot of my drivers have raised babies on these buses.” After almost two decades of driving, Bullard said is always surprised by the kids, but they are the reason she loves what she does. “When they go to school and learn something new,” Bullard said. “You know you took them to do that and you know you are going to take them home again so they can do it all over again.”
Much to the relief of parents everywhere and the chagrin of children across the board, school is about to start up again. With the academic year mere days away, transportation departments and law enforcement are taking drivers to task, teaching the public what they should already know: When you see a school bus with its stop-arm deployed, children are present exiting and entering the vehicle. It all boils to down to this: See a stopped school bus, stop for the school bus. Take for instance, Atlanta schools. They are currently engaged in a huge public outreach program that’s asking motorists to be aware of increased traffic as the big yellow school bus resumes its routes. “As our school buses begin to roll again, I urge drivers to be alert and exercise patience and caution, especially around children waiting at school bus stops or loading and unloading school buses,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “Patient, informed and law-abiding drivers ensure that our children can arrive safely at school each day, ready to learn.” While this shouldn’t have to be repeated, loads of people seem to be unaware that per Georgia law, vehicles traveling in both directions must stop when a school bus activates its stop-arm on a two-lane road or a multi-lane road with no median or barrier.
Piggybacking off the previous recap, as kids go back to school in DeKalb, local law enforcement is doing its best to shake off the summer bake in order to remind people that a stopped school bus isn’t an implement to be conquered, it’s a safety vehicle that desperately needs to respected. The DeKalb County Police Department released a helpful diagram on its Twitter page. The post is titled “Driver Homework” and encourages people behind the wheel to “slow down and keep our kids safe.” The image explains when and where to stop your vehicle for a school bus. “Cars passing a stopped bus may not see the student, who can be obstructed by the stopped bus,” said DeKalb police spokeswoman Officer Shiera Campbell. “Stopping for a bus saves lives.”
The flooding that damaged large swathes of Kanawha County continues to be a nuisance as the state Division of Highways is still making repairs Officials are alerting people driving through school zones in the affected areas can expect new traffic patterns and possible delays once school starts next week. Kanawha County Schools transportation officials said they’re working with DOH to resolve issues that parents, school bus drivers and others may encounter while trying to get children to and from school. “What we want to try to do is make it as orderly as possible, coordinating how we offload buses and how our car-riders approach the school,” said Keith Vititoe, security director for Kanawha schools.
