In the last year, new individuals have joined the school bus industry at the state level. Mike Pickens from West Virginia and Sergeant Chris Kath from Indiana are two of several new key players of student transportation at the state level.
Mike Pickens has been the executive director for the Office of School Facilities for the West Virginia Department of Education since 2010. He told STN that due to budgetary constraints, the department made the decision to combine this office with the office of school transportation, and as executive director of the Office of School Facilities, this role carried over into transportation. Pickens has been the executive director of transportation at the West Virginia Department of Education since November 2013. He has been working in the facilities industry for nearly 40 years.
He said that the thing he likes best about working in the student transportation industry is the dedication of his colleagues.
“The people working in this arena are very passionate about their jobs which is very encouraging and easy to support in the role that I have,” he said.
He shared that he has been learning how different his two leadership roles are, with student transportation more focused on serving people and the facilities industry more involved with buildings and materials.
“Understanding the processes and policies has been the first challenges to overcome for me since transportation has been added. Unlike facilities, transportation is more of a people-driven industry. We talk more about square footage and bricks and mortar with facilities. With transportation, much of the discussion centers around people such as bus operators, teachers and students. I have a great staff of tremendously dedicated bus inspectors who have contributed greatly during the transition period,” he said.
Pickens added that the current bus driver shortage is one of the greatest challenges facing student transporters in West Virginia, yet also extends to other areas throughout the country.
Learn more about bus driver shortages in our November issue.
Along with addressing these challenges, Pickens also has many plans for enhancing school bus safety in his state. One of his priorities is creating a bus driver training program through the Regional Educational Service Agencies that is consistent statewide.
Sgt. Chris Kath is not a state director per se, but he is an important figure in student transportation at the state level as school bus safety coordinator with the Indiana State Police (ISP).
Kath originally started his career in law enforcement in 1998. Ten years later, he was introduced to the school bus industry after a promotion to the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division within the ISP, and he began inspecting school buses in the Indianapolis region. Some of his responsibilities were semi-annual inspections, post-crash inspections and the investigation of stop-arm violations as well as complaints about school bus drivers.
He also played an important role in the implementation of the electronic school bus inspection database in Indiana, a digital record of approximately 24,000 annual school bus inspections. He was promoted to his current role in June 2013.
Kath emphasized that his commitment to student safety ultimately drew him into the school transportation industry.
“What better cause is there? We are talking about students, the future of the United States of America. We must do all that we can daily to ensure our children safely get to school, so they can receive the best education possible (and) grow mentally, socially and morally to lead our country in the right direction,” he told STN.
(Photo, From Left: Sgt. Chris Kath, Mike Pickens)
