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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1007 Questions

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Last Answer on February 07, 2021

Best Rated

Does your district/company do summer school routes? Do they charter?

Asked by Donna the lama about 6 years ago

Summer school, yes. Charter, no. Though we have been asked by people outside the schools to provide a bus occasionally for local in town functions.

Why are my co workers so rude? What do you think? So I did not move because a kid was misbehaving and I called the principal. The other busses where having trouble getting around me so they breaded me on the radio. One lady demanding that I pull

Asked by Tom almost 6 years ago

Generally some people get irritated if things are holding them up. The polite thing to do would be to move to let others out and put your hazards on while you wait for the principal to attend to your bus. This way you're not holding up the line. If I'm late to my school in the afternoons I'll hold up traffic to let my co workers out before picking up my kids. Its just polite.

How do/would you react in a situation when you called someone a he or she and they responded in anger demanding you call them by their pronouns? Could and would you get in trouble if you refused because Against your values? Would you call them their pronouns even if you did not have to?

Asked by I am the person over 5 years ago

Personally if the person asked (not demanded) i would be far more receptive to it. However i do respect that people choose to be identified by different pronouns than their physical gender and that it can be a sensitive subject for some people.

It’s sad that they need to come up with all that stuff. Honestly people should be able to know when to stop on the really old buses that just had the solid light. Unfortunately people will run them no matter how much you pimp the buses out. But it’s worth a try to get someone to stop.

Asked by Pj over 5 years ago

It is sad and year after year we have more kids get hit by other drivers who don't pay attention.

Thank you for answering my question. What is the best way to respond to complaints like that? Do parents get angry when you tell them there is nothing you can do and to bring it up with a supervisor?

Asked by Lynn almost 6 years ago

You're welcome, generally if it's a bullying issue I tend to take a more proactive approach but have both the victim and the bully sit closer to me so I can hear what is being said. For other complaints, I take on a case by case basis and either try to work a solution or refer them to my supervisor if they are being petty.

So my state just mandated that schools be closed for the remainder of the term. So what next do you think there will be lay offs? How are they going to do this it must be hard enough to do a month. Many schools are not made for doing this long term. I feel like most places try and say this will never happen and now this is going to be a bigger cluster duckey then it is. Thanks

Asked by So sorry if I post more then once I don't know whats going on right now with the site. about 5 years ago

There have already been some layoffs in some districts. Most districts, I believe, will still in some way be paying their employees their contracted amount. Given that school is a necessary thing and that some jobs such as bus driving can be modified temporarily to accommodate the needs of the students, it is unlikely that things are going to never be needed.

Good point. Now would it be better if the bus was used on a long route or be a extra spare bus until needed for a district that had a lot of trips that went out of state. Or is this still overkill?

Asked by Interviewer over 5 years ago

That's a tough question. Most districts purchase buses based on capacity and usability. The capacity of these buses are 48 passenger, 40 for the ones that are wheelchair accessible. The standard capacity for a school bus is 72 passengers at 3 to a seat. Of course this figure is impossible the older and larger a child gets. My route alone takes me an hour and a half in the morning and almost 2 hours in the afternoon. I transport more than 85 to 90 children across all age groups on a good day. A bus like that while appealing because of the comfort items, is impractical because even at full capacity i would need to make at minimum 2 rounds to get everyone to and from school. Many routes are designed to have the maximum number of ridership and in some cases will exceed that amount. Even on the longer routes. If the district had drivers available and enough finances available then sure. But otherwise i think it would waste valuable resources.