Each individual working in Mountain View School Division contributes to the school system and keeps it motoring along. When it comes to the safety of children within the school gate, educational assistants, custodians, teachers, and administrators educate and protect them. These school-based personnel have duties at the school building and are in a sheltered area. However, there is a group of school division personnel who begin their school day early, often work split shifts of mornings and afternoons, and their whole responsibility is outside of the school building - school bus drivers! When it comes to student safety outside the school - coming to school and going home on a bus, for example - school bus drivers do the best work!
School bus drivers at Mountain View School Division play an important role in the safe supervision of the children and in the direct management of student activities on school buses. The work of managing the transportation of children on a school bus requires people skills and efficiency in the handling of all the issues that transpire during the process. The research shows that generally speaking, the overall top five behaviour management strategies used by bus drivers were: “1) Assigning a student to a particular seat, 2) Reporting students to school building administration, 3) Moving a student to a particular seat during the bus route, 4) Use of video surveillance, and 5) Discussing a student's behavior with a parent or guardian.” (Brian K. Sims, 2014)
School bus drivers do not work in the “sheltered” environment of a classroom or school. Drivers have to contend with both the elements on the road and working with students. They may not be involved in the teaching of the academics required for passing a grade or for graduation, but they have to monitor and teach social skills and attitudes required in a group setting. These attitudinal skills that the bus drivers monitor and supervise on the school buses are required in our liberal democratic society. The skills of communication, respect for social space, being kind to others, and respect for other people are many of the fundamental skills and attitudes that are needed in the education of our children.
At Mountain View School Division, school bus drivers manage the duty of picking up students from designated stops and transporting them to various schools within the division. In doing so, the driver must deliver the students so they arrive at school with a positive attitude and ready to learn. They hold a very important task of transporting students safely with a combined driving distance of about 1,250,000 km of bus routes annually. There are 38 regular route drivers and 15 substitute drivers who transport 1,498 kids per day. School bus drivers also transport students and teachers to various field trips or sporting events, and those trips account for approximately 75,000 km annually.
School bus drivers play a crucial role in the safe running of school buses. As parents, we all know how difficult it can be to drive our kids around and try to maintain our focus from the constant distractions. Supervising about 24 children while driving the school bus requires exceptional driving skills and incredible focus. Many school bus drivers often feel that they are not appreciated and sometimes may feel disrespected too. It is important to respect and value the work that they do. Children should be taught to respect the school bus drivers. Students and the education community must be aware of the immense responsibility and contributions that school bus drivers make to the education system.
Without a doubt, our school bus drivers lived up to their responsibilities of keeping the buses safe for our students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they should be commended for their efforts. However, there is a need for more drivers, as driver recruitment has been very difficult in all areas and the school division has lost a few substitutes. In the last 18 months, the Division had to cancel a handful of daily routes due to a substitute shortage.
Finally, my last two girls took the bus from Grades 9 to 12 because I was working in the school system and wanted to get to work by 8:00 a.m., and it was very “hard on me” waiting for two teenagers to get ready on time to travel with me. So, I agreed with my wife that I should not wait, and that they would have to catch the school bus; and maybe that was what the kids wanted, to not travel with dad who may ask about homework during the ride! Anyway, I must add that there were times when they missed the bus even though it passed by my place at 8:15 a.m. When I reflect upon that period of time, I’m thankful for the patience of the bus driver when those kids were not by the road, and the driver had to wait a minute.
So, let’s celebrate the tremendous job performed by our bus drivers in transporting students safely to school, and in contributing to the education of children in our education community!