The Bus Driver
15 Years Experience
South, ..
Female, 37
I have been a bus driver since late 2006. I know the inside story, the scoop, the down low dirt of what it takes to be a bus driver, how to handle kids and adults, and how to survive on the "streets" so to speak. I used to have a blog, feel free to browse it or ask me a question here.
I would need examples of the questions being asked in order to better understand the situation. That being said I rarely ask any child any side of a situation but his or her own. For example, on my bus on Friday, I had let one of my more challenging students sit further back from the front. As such, he subsequently threw something at other kids which made a big problem on the bus. Instead of accusing any one child, I asked each child what happened and their side to the story. This stopped them from being upset over the situation and allowed them to control their side to it.In the end, I got the truth about what happened, correlated by several kids, and not one of them accused the other of doing it.
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Each state has their own laws regarding the age of bus drivers. I think here in Georgia it is 21 or 22. Other than that I'm not sure. As far as time is concerned, yes it can be worked during a college schedule. In fact I am in college myself and manage my job and college.
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That's a tough call. Personally, on hot days, I bring water for all my bus kids. It may not be cold water, but it is liquid. If there is a definite need like the child is going to pass out or in serious health decline due to the heat, then I would probably send one of my more responsible kids in for water at the store and take the heat later from my supervisor. The biggest issue I have there is that there was either no one on the bus to supervise the kids if the driver got off or that kids can be hard to control if let off to go into a store.
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Then you may want to check in with the district and the bus shop to see if something can be done. Have you considered talking with the driver to see what his reasoning is? Maybe if you approach it with a polite manner, he might be more amenable to changing or giving an extra row of seats for space. Good luck.
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Have you tried speaking with the bus driver directly? Maybe there is a space issue and the driver has assigned seats. If your child is the last stop (in the morning), then it may be that the only seats available are ones with boys in them. If possible you could request that your child be seated next to a child of the same gender or paired up with someone else. When I have assigned seats on my bus, I usually will pair children together with ones whom I know are their friends on the bus. Sometimes with the younger ones, I will pair them up with either classmates or older positive influences.
As far as saying good morning or anything to the children, it is each bus drivers individual preferences. I prefer to greet every child with a friendly good morning. If I don't greet children, they know its either because I was distracted or otherwise occupied answering a child. Sometimes you speaking to the bus driver might bring about the change that your child needs. Good luck!
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I haven't had much of a chance to blog recently. Its kind of a shame that I've not been as active in the blog-o-sphere. Maybe I'll create a new post referencing this Q&A so that people can come and get their questions answered directly.
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"My sons bus driver says to be waiting on him in someone elses driveway a 8th of a mile up the road. No other kids get on when my son does. Waiting means stand there for possibly 30mins cause this bus doesnt come at a regular time."
I copied the second part of your question here so that I can address both at the same time
First, if your house is a designated stop, my first suggestion would be to go to the bus shop supervisor and find out why he has not been stopping at the stop. There may not be an easy place to turn around down by where you live. Sometimes there are safety reasons why we don't go down certain roads. If the bus has no consistent time, this is something that should be reported to the bus shop as well. I try to be on the same schedule within a 5 minute time frame so as not to worry my students or parents. Third, I don't know the age of your child, but it is likely that if the child is in middle or highschool, it is easier to get the child to walk a couple hundred yards to where there is a safe place for the bus to turn around. On one of my roads, there is literally no place to turn around at the end of the road. I could go down it and back into someone's driveway, but I don't want to do that unless it is absolutely necessary or pouring down rain.
Keep in mind there are laws when handling back ups on a 40 foot school bus. The bus isnt exactly the most maneuverable vehicle too. Hope this helps.
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