School bus drivers are by large some of the most patient, dedicated, and talented individuals, which makes it all that much worse that most media coverage of the job focuses on drivers who fail to meet the standards of the industry.
Countless drivers manage to safely transport and discipline students on a daily basis. They use endless patience to keep misbehaving students in line and guarantee a safe place for students.
Despite all this, the vast majority of headlines about bus drives tend to be filled with drivers who used intoxicating substances on the jobs, verbally or physically neglected or abused students, or otherwise failed to ensure children safe transportation. Meanwhile, you might be hard-pressed to find stories of the drivers who go the extra mile and show up to pick your children up every day with a smile.
School Bus Fleet wanted to shine a light on the other side of school bus drivers and give the drivers who went above and beyond the limelight they deserve. You might think stories like these are rare, but they actually represent the type of people who dedicate themselves to making sure you children get home safely.
In just the short time since the start of 2015, there have already been plenty of stories of school bus drivers who deserve notice for going the extra mile. School Bus Fleet chose a few of these stories including:
School bus drivers brave icy weather to pick up stranded students, staff. When 230 students and staff members of Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District were stranded recently on a weekend by inclement weather in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where they had been participating in an academic competition, the district’s bus drivers stepped up. Fritz Klabunde, the district’s transportation director, drove a district Suburban that led a caravan of seven school buses along snow-covered highways from Round Rock to Fort Worth, where they picked up the students.
School bus driver saves home from fire. In February, Tammy Ritter, a bus driver for Baldwin City (Kan.) Unified School District 348, saved a home from catching on fire while she was driving on her morning route. After learning that no one was home, she stomped out as many of the flames as she could, got a neighbor to go to the house with a hose while she continued on her route, and brought the family’s dog with her to keep it safe.
School bus driver rescues woman from overturned car. While driving his route in Morganton, North Carolina, on a mid-January morning, bus driver Larry Cornett was notified by another bus driver of a crash on his route. He saw the upside-down car with the driver still inside, pulled her out of the car, and waited with her on his bus until a highway patrol officer arrived.
