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

Does it help a driver to have any kind of degree before or while your driving a Bus?

Asked by Jason almost 6 years ago

Highschool diploma and cdl certification is standard. Anything else is bonus and more than welcome.

They keep pushing the date we go back to school. When do you think it will be?

Asked by Wesley about 6 years ago

Truthfully.... next school year.

Have you ever been in a bad wreck on the bus before?

Asked by Jon about 6 years ago

No, thank goodness, though I have been involved in a few fender benders. Minor incidents, minimal damage.

How do you control kids when their being difficult? What kinds of disciplinary actions do you usually take

Asked by ****** about 6 years ago

I use a variety of positive reinforcement tactics. For most kids, a routine is best so assigning them a seat on the bus and a seatmate they're friends with alleviates 90 percent of behavior issues. The other 10 percent, I use positive rewards for good behavior and largely ignore the bad behavior. Sometimes with a difficult child, I assign them a "job" like making sure everyone is awake. Now occasionally even this method doesn't work and I do have to resort to writing a child up and turning them into the school but that is a last resort.

Is there any districts or bus companies that don’t require and diploma OR equivalent? It seems like most do and I understand wanting people to have it but I figure the more requirements the less people they will have to pull from with shortages

Asked by Calhon almost 6 years ago

Equivalent is experience. Most bus driving jobs and jobs today in general require a minimum of a highschool diploma. This should be industry standard across the board.

Should someone complain if kids are being made to sit four to a seat and people in the floors and everything? My friend said his bus was like that and the driver just gave up caring because they would not give them another bus and no one would try and get another ride to school when they could

Asked by funny about 6 years ago

Yes. They should complain to the district and the bus barn. The driver is not at fault because of the way the district is forcing the overcrowding issues and refusal to accommodate time schedules at the schools. It also doesn't help when parents yell at the driver too. Take it higher and the driver might actually get some relief on the overcrowding.

Why is my district going on a firing spree? I read the board minutes and they are just firing people but here is the thing they are hiring as well

Asked by Jason about 6 years ago

Summer is usually the time for staff turnover. Thats when people retire, find other jobs, transfer from one school to another (middle school to elementary etc) and in the rare case, the district will terminate those who didn't perform to their standards or who left without intentions to return.

Sometimes in other rare instances, a school board might be considering switching contractors. In the case of bus drivers, this happens more often in larger districts where companies like Durham and First Student bid on a contract and most of the time there is informal hiring and firing of employees as they transfer the contract services.