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

Have you ever worked as a bus aide? Dispatcher? Supervisor? Maintenance or something besides a driver?

Asked by 637816923784612789346192783461278934612789346129378146238974126347891236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123612361236123 over 6 years ago

Bus aide yes. Not very often though as the need for drivers was much greater.

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 6 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.

Can you write up a student for saving seats even if they did not give attitude? My bus driver asked for my name as i was getting off the bus because for the second time i didnt want anyone next to me when there were other seats open. Can she do that?

Asked by music almost 7 years ago

Yes. If the driver is telling you and others where to sit you do not get to dictate who sits where and with who. Sorry it doesn't work that way. Slide in and make a new friend.

Is there really anything good about the back of the bus? I mean Rosa Parks did not like it so if she did not like it then it must not be such a magical place after all was it

Asked by Johnny on the sopt over 6 years ago

Not really though kids think they can get away with stuff back there. They really can't.

If something happens would the driver be liable if the driver saw the student walking to the bus? Is there a better way to handle that situation? Would the driver be liable if it was say a sub and he or she did not know that person was coming?

Asked by Jarred almost 7 years ago

That is exactly the reason why we ask students to be ready 5 to 10 minutes before stop time so they are ready to go. So they cannot be held liable.

My kid been having problems with the bus monitor she called my daughter a hoe on a Friday we called up to the bus and they were supposed to let us know if it did happen or not then on Monday 3 kids told me she was in my 11 year old face now she scare

Asked by Tasha over 6 years ago

It sounds like the monitor might not need to be on the bus but you can ask for video to be pulled which has audio recording and it will also show if your child was showing out and the monitor was correcting her by telling her to sit down and behave. We have a lot of kids who try to get us as drivers in trouble for saying things when they are angry they got in trouble in the first place.

Hi, what do you think will happen if they decided to close schools for the rest of the semester? Will we do online, mailing, or just pass us for the next grade (or graduate) Thanks!

Asked by Joe over 6 years ago

That's hard to say and also depends on the individual districts. I'm sure the extenuating circumstances will be taken into account when deciding what to do. The issue is in many rural areas kids do not have access to online like urban areas do and that puts them at a disadvantage.