At Monday night’s school board work session, Executive Director of Administration and Planni…
Driving a school bus can be intimidating enough for someone who has not driven any vehicle bigger than a pickup truck. Add to that the responsibility for safely delivering 60 or so children to school -- every day and on time – it’s a lot.
Fauquier County Public Schools held an event Saturday designed to make the job seem a little more approachable. Only six people pre-registered, but ten people showed up at Liberty High School to take a school bus for a spin – minus the kids – and nine decided to take the next step and fill out an application. If all nine make it past the application process, the four-day classroom training and 24-hour, behind-the-wheel training (half with kids, half without), that would make a dent in the 25 to 30 bus driver vacancies the school division is currently reporting.
Brad Carter of Bealeton has been a bus aide for six years and, after his trial run, decided it’s time to take the plunge and become a bus driver. He said he decided to make the change largely because of the school division’s driver shortage. “Kids are getting to school late. It’s unnecessary,” he said.
Carter is a recent winner of the school division’s Rising Tide award -- intended to “recognize those individuals who go the extra mile, demonstrate selflessness, recognize needs and take action. They do big and little things that are special and worthy of recognition from their peers,” according to Tara Helkowski, schools' spokeswoman.
Carter said he enjoys working with children as an aide and is looking forward to serving them in an expanded role as a driver. His enthusiasm showed as he pulled away from the curb Saturday, coming a little fast out of the gate. But he pulled it in, smooth as silk.
Joy (she preferred not to share her last name), another potential driver, was considerably more nervous about taking a test spin. She said she’d wanted to become a bus driver for a long time but was unsure about driving the big bus. She took a turn Saturday morning around 9:30, then another, then sat and watched while one of the trainers went around again.
By 10:30 a.m., her reservations had vanished. She said, “I’m definitely going to apply. This has been a great experience.” She has driven a U-Haul truck before. “It was good to feel those air brakes again.” She said she was looking forward to working with students.
Cristina Madsen, in her second year as a school bus driver, was on hand Saturday to answer questions and offer support. She remembers the training for her commercial driver’s license and said, “The trainers make it “super fun.”
Madsen, 33, remembers feeling intimidated at first, but after only 15 minutes, she felt comfortable. She remembers one of the first exercises the trainer asked her to do was turn around in a cul-de-sac. “Once you learn the turning radius, it’s easy. Then, they take you on different kinds of roads to make sure you are comfortable.”
Now, she said, “I can parallel park a bus better than my car.”
Cristina Madsen has been driving a school bus in Fauquier for two years.
Madsen picks up children and delivers them to Warrenton Middle School, Marshall Middle School and Coleman Elementary. She also takes on some sports team runs when she can. “I appreciate the flexibility” the job offers. “I can be home to cook dinner for my boys (her son, 14, and her boyfriend).”
She has been impressed with the support drivers get from the transportation office, Madsen said. “The ladies in the office are angels. If I get lost in Marshall or Linden, they’ll talk me through it.”
Madsen said that establishing a relationship with her charges has been gratifying. “I call them by their name when they get on and when they get off. I tell them to have a good day and they always say it back to me. They tell me what sports they play and about their girlfriends. I think they behave better when you have a relationship with them.”
A Fauquier High School graduate, Madsen lives in Culpeper. “I never considered working as a bus driver in Culpeper. I feel comfortable here.”
What’s the toughest part of being a bus driver? Madsen had her answer ready: trash days. “There are trash cans everywhere!”
Ezra Ramirez is only 3 years old but was excited to hop onto a school bus Saturday and try it out. His mom, Joli Ramirez, is a human resources generalist with the school division.
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September 28, 2021 at 09:23PM
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Bus driver recruiting event may yield 9 new drivers - Fauquier Times
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