Oregon School District Maintenance Internship Program Yields Success

November 1, 2024

Chris Fitzpatrick performs service on a Beaverton School District bus. He joined the operation as an intern his senior year of high school and was hired full time after graduating.

In an industry historically short on staff, ensuring new members are in the pipeline remains critical. One recruitment strategy at Beaverton School District near Portland, Oregon, was the adoption of an internship program for its maintenance operations.

One of Cliff Harrell’s first priorities when he took over as shop supervisor a little over two years ago was creating an internship program with the auto tech at one of the school district’s high schools.

During the first year of the program, Harrell said one intern was brought on for the six-month program, worked during the summer, and then became a full-time employee. School bus service technician Chris Fitzpatrick is still an employee now.

He spoke with School Transportation News over the summer about his experience working in the shop.

“I started my internship the last semester of my senior year,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that he came to the shop once or twice a week depending on his schedule.

He shared that his first impression, was that “it’s more money than I’ve ever seen before.” During the summer after graduation, one of the service techs was retiring, and Chris was asked if he wanted to stay on full-time. “I figured I would take a gap year, so it allowed me to work this year and then hopefully I can pay for college next year.”

He joined the auto tech class because he needed credits and enjoys cars and trucks. “Who doesn’t want to go work on cars all day, if you’re into cars, right?” he shared.

Because Fitzpatrick has a dream of one day becoming a firefighter, he didn’t want to take the internship experience from anyone else. However, he said there weren’t many volunteers, so he took a chance.

“I hate sitting in the classroom, and I think that some people would agree with me, sitting, learning and filling out paperwork it just sucks,” he said, adding that sitting behind a computer all day is not his ideal career.

That is why he finds the internship so beneficial, and something that should be offered for more trades like construction and manufacturing. He noted that the internship provided him with a career that he could stay in for the next 30 years until he retires. However, he will be attending the fire academy this year.

Beaverton School District has 11 heavy repair mechanics and two service technicians who perform all the service and repairs. The shop is responsible for everything from the back bumper to the front bumper, including engine transmissions, drivetrains, axles and all safety equipment. “We do it all,” said shop supervisor Cliff Harrell. Only warranty items are sent out. He added that with electric school buses, the maintenance staff perform the initial troubleshooting steps before sending the bus out for warranty service.

Fitzpatrick said he believes the younger generation has an advantage of being a mechanic right after high school because they are open to advances in technology. There are guys who have been working for 20 to 25 years that are used how things normally are,” he shared. “I really don’t know what’s normal. So, if something new pops up, then that’s normal. I can just go with it.”

The second year of the program was during the 2023-2024 school year. Harrell said at least 40 students were interested, and Beaverton had to narrow the candidate to three. He noted that process started with talking with the high school instructors to understand which students stood out, and then Beaverton staff does their own interviews with the potential candidates.

While STN was onsite last summer, two interns were working in the shop following graduation. One of those was Manuel Andrade Botello, who said he wanted to join the internship because he likes hands-on learning and wanted to home in on his auto tech skills.

He noted that while he didn’t know what the program would entail at first, he’s really enjoying it, as every day is different. For instance, he shared that Beaverton had specialists come in and teach all the mechanics of the in’s and out’s brakes.

He encouraged other school districts to offer internship programs. “This place, it’s a welcoming place,” he said. “It’s not a place where you will feel scared to ask a question.”

He shared the staff is really nice and will any questions he has, without judgement. “They won’t just give you an answer. They will go on and teach you,” he added.

“We’re hoping just to keep it going,” Harrell said, adding that future plans include creating a bridge from the high school auto tech program to the community college diesel program. “Anything to keep the trades going and involve younger people to know that the trades are out there. That’s ultimately my goal.”

He explained that he feels maintenance is a lost skill on the younger generation, especially with the mentality that the job is viewed as “dirty” and that technicians will go home smelling like gasoline and diesel.

“But with the evolving technology, mostly everything we do is computer driven,” he said, adding that first they hook up a bus, pull codes and diagnose codes through a computer before making a mechanical repair. “A lot of stuff can be repaired with the computer. … But there is that stigma that you’re going to just go to work and get dirty all day long.”

As seen with electric school buses, he said there’s a lot of changes in the bus garage. “It’s causing people who are comfortable in just diesel or gas to learn a new skill and evolve with that skill as well,” he explained. “So, everything is becoming electrical. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

With electric school buses, he said the biggest concern is safety. “Are we fully at the point where we could bring in an EV bus and safely work on it? No,” he said.

Beaverton maintenance staff is able to conduct the initial diagnostic test and then touch base with the manufacturers to see where to proceed. He said in a couple of years, he envisions being able to be at the point where internal staff is able to have the high-voltage training to do the repairs themselves.

In terms of staff acceptance of electric school buses, Harrel said it’s been a mix of reactions. While some employees are thrilled to have a new tool in their toolbox, others are diesel mechanics, and that’s all that they want to work on.

“The more knowledge that we have with it, the more comfortable we’ll get,” he added.

In August, Beaverton hosted an electric school bus class with other districts in the state and had representatives from Blue Bird, Western Bus Sales and others to spread more information throughout districts.