School buses rack up tens of thousands of miles
John T Martin
john.martin@courierpress.com
Bus travel in local school districts is a huge, high-stakes business that relies on precision.
Those big yellow vehicles, as well as the riders, must be right on time for everything to go smoothly. A 7:15 a.m. pickup, for instance, isn't the same thing as a 7:17 pickup.
That's what makes the opening of every school year challenging, local school district officials say. There are always new wrinkles -- new drivers and children starting school who might or might not be familiar with the routine for pickup and drop-off.
In many cases, the parents of new students get all of that information before the first day of school. In other instances, those key details aren't learned.
"It's a temporary problem, but we expect it going in, and staff is prepared to be on the phones," said Mike Mentzel, whose been transportation director with the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. for 24 years.
Warrick County School Corp. Superintendent Brad Schneider said it's not uncommon for a new child to not be picked up on the first day, especially if there is a lack of communication before the school year begins.
"Obviously our drivers are trained, and if they see a kid on a route, they will pick them up and ask what school they are supposed to go to and get them there," Schneider said. "They do use radios the first couple days. We are very flexible with that until everyone knows exactly what bus they need to be on. In a couple days, it's worked it's way out."
The number of miles the buses log daily in the two districts is staggering. EVSC buses travel somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 miles per day, depending on what after-school activities are taking place. The EVSC fleet also does mid-day routes for students spending half their time at programs away from their home school.
Buses in Warrick go about 5,500 miles per day.
Both school corporations reported that, for now, they have enough full-time bus drivers, along with substitutes. But officials said that should not dissuade interested people from pursuing a license, because inevitably, there will be needs. Becoming a school bus driver in Indiana requires a commercial drivers license with a school bus endorsement.
In the EVSC, those interested should contact the bus office at 812-435-8263 to schedule an interview and go over the steps to obtain a license.
"We do all the training in house," said Jason Woebkenberg, an EVSC spokesman. "We do training based on their abilities, and we train them at a high level because we want nothing but the best to transport our students."
In Warrick, which on occasion has experienced severe shortages of drivers, call 812-897-0495 for more information.
"Right now we're in really good shape, and that was not the case last year," Schneider said. "Our transportation director himself and a lot of the staff had to drive because we didn't have a lot of subs, and it was tough to cover. We have a fairly good substitute pool now. But it is an issue,"