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

Why do some routes not start until past seven and others at 5:30? Am but in the PM they start about the same time

Asked by Jim over 6 years ago

Depending on where you live and how the bus system is set up will depend on how the routes start and end in both morning and evening. Some districts have the schools separated on each bus by school/grade level. For example there may be high school routes, middle school routes, and elementary routes that all start and end at different times based on when those schools start and end their day. Alternatively you may live in a county that puts all grade levels on each bus. There are positives and negatives to this. A positive is that if you are a family that has older siblings, the older ones are riding with the younger ones and you don't have to worry as much about childcare when your high schooler gets off with your second grader. Due to the distance from the schools will depend on when each route needs to start. You can guarantee that the one that starts early will end late in the afternoon due to the distance they have to cover with children.

Why in Missouri do they require buses to have two stop arms?

Asked by Pj over 6 years ago

Visibility. Most older buses will have one stop sign and one crossing gate. Newer buses will have 2 stop signs and 1 crossing gate. In some states they are even piloting a program where they are extending the stop arm out about 5 feet into the opposing lane to make it even more visible and make sure drivers know to STOP!!! The biggest issue we have as drivers is the sheer number of people who ignore our flashing lights and stop signs even though they had plenty of warning to stop. It's an epidemic and I fear the day my bus kids are going to get hurt over it.

Am I allowed to catch the elementary bus if I miss the secondary bus? I would be late but would it be okay?

Asked by SI over 6 years ago

That would depend on your district and the bus driver. You could ask but chances are good the driver will say no.

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 7 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.

Hi, do you think more districts should have programs that track buses and alert parents also alerts that say for delays, early arrivals, and other changes to the bus schedule? Do you think while convenient they raise privacy concerns or not?

Asked by 02983457 about 6 years ago

I would like to see something like this but it could get abused by parents. I think it could be regulated by each district and company. That way the company can relay info to parents without giving up location info to parents for safety of children.

I don't know what your supposed to do in lightning so evidently your a dumb ass if your wanting in it but then sometimes bus stops are far from home and if you wait inside and the bus driver does not see you immediately then you deserve to miss thebus

Asked by Jake about 6 years ago

Generally when it storms I make sure to give my kids extra time to get from their houses to my bus I don't feel that it is necessary to rush a child in getting on a bus because they could get injured if they rush. It is important to me to make sure that the children have ample time to get from their houses to the bus.

Can the board and transportation have desertion over whether to transport students who don’t live in the district but go to school in the district for one reason or another. I heard word on the street they may start but I don’t know if they can.

Asked by Don over 6 years ago

Yes they can have discretion to provide transportation to out of district kids. In our district if a parent chooses to enroll their child out of district, they are responsible for transporting that child.