School Bus Driver

School Bus Driver

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.

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Last Answer on February 07, 2021

Best Rated

Do parents tip school bus drivers during the holidays and/or at the end of the school year, and if so how much is typical?

Asked by abter1 over 12 years ago

No. Though we do have a bus driver appreciation week and occasionally regular bus drivers will receive small gifts from their students and families at the holidays. It is not typical to find and really depends on how well the bus driver works with families. Some drivers have had their routes for 15+ years and often have developed a rapport with the families on their routes. Gifts and tips are definitely appreciated by bus drivers. I also work as a Transit driver, and I do occasionally get a tip from passengers. Again its much appreciated, but not necessary.

I assume you've seen this video of the bullied school bus monitor, but just in case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E12R9fMMtos. Any thoughts on this? How does something like that happen?

Asked by Marissa over 12 years ago

This was a very hard video to watch, and in fact, I could not watch it all the way through. I address this issue on my blog. However to answer your question - Kids are mean. They do not think before they speak and often will torment others just because they can. I've been bullied by the kids before because of my size, and I don't let it bother me, and turn in those that are bullying. Unfortunately the consequences for the students who bully are not severe enough to STOP the bullying. Too many excuses for poor behavior.

Hi, with all due respect I have always wondered why bus drivers appear to be so grouchy. Is it because of the lack of sleep and unruly kids? I've never met the cheery bus driver as I see on movies. Just wondering!

Asked by Strangette over 11 years ago

Sometimes even the most seasoned bus driver isn't always cheerful in the mornings.  I do try to greet my students with a good morning, even if I'm not the most cheerful.  Yes sometimes the behavior does affect my mood, but when you think of bus drivers in movies, they're simply actors, they get paid to be all cheery.  We are doing a job that is often thankless and can be very difficult.

Do bus drivers (or whoever is the head of the bus driving department) have any say in a school district's decision to close schools due to inclement weather?

Asked by Heya over 12 years ago

That's a good question - I'm not really sure how it works in other states and each individual school district has their own policies on what is considered inclement weather, but our district rarely closes for inclement weather. The one time we did, since I've been there, I think it was a combination of the transportation department and the school board deciding what was safest for the students. We had experienced some torrential rain which washed out a lot of our roads and caused some very unsafe conditions for students, so the school was closed because of the road conditions caused by the rain.

How do you deal with a bus monitor that seems to be a back seat driver?
It will slowly and then eventually swiftly build until I'm slamming my brakes on in the center of an intersection! How can a driver professionally stop the distraction?

Asked by reason almost 12 years ago

That’s a tough question to answer. Ideally if you have a monitor on the bus, the monitor should not be a distraction and you should be able to work side by side with the monitor. Have you tried speaking with the monitor directly? Maybe she/he doesn’t know that what they are doing is bothering you. If you feel you cannot speak to the person directly, ask your boss for a mediation session where he/she can have the both of you in the office and you two can hash out your differences. It may be that the boss may decide to move the monitor to a different bus, and give you a new monitor for yours. Personally, I prefer to drive a bus by myself because its easier to handle all behavior problems because I can be consistent in my discipline methods. If I write a student up for behavior and my monitor doesn’t for the same behavior, it sends mixed messages to the student on how to behave. I hope you find a resolution soon!

I have a boss that thinks I should not need to stop for 5 min to use the restroom after 2 hrs of driving. This is after I have delivered students at 2 different schools, driven about 35 mi, and before I pick up more students and drive another
15 mi

Asked by avatar almost 12 years ago

I think you ought to be allowed to use the bathroom should you need it, however if you are leaving students unattended on your bus, I can see your boss' problem with you using the bathroom. If it is simply a matter of you pulling the bus over in a public area at a gas station, your boss may be wanting to avoid phone calls from the "concerned public" of buses parking in places where they shouldn't. After all, the county public pays your salary right? (That was a bit of sarcasm.) One thing your boss may be concerned about is you getting students to school on time. If you only need 5 minutes to use the restroom, simply back your route up by 5 minutes so that you budget that "bathroom time" into your route.

This is a really interesting thread, learned a ton already by reading it. My question: do you lock and unlock the emergency door from the driver's seat, or could a kid sitting in the back just open it at any time?

Asked by Hank almost 12 years ago

The emergency doors in the back of the bus (or on the side of the bus in some models) are simply opened by a red lever in the back of the bus. Any child can do it in the case of an emergency. The door is not locked. The door can be locked, however when securing your bus for the evening after you have completed your route. The newer models of buses have a simple slide latch and the latch communicates with the ignition system of the bus. If the latch is locked, the bus will not start. It ensures that the door always stays unlocked so that students can get out in the case of an emergency.