Kids can meet bus drivers
<p>Joe Mares, lead mechanic, works under the hood and communicates with Hal McConnel in the driver's seat as the Coeur d'Alene School District's transportation department gets its 60-bus fleet ready for another school year.</p>
School bus drivers will be at Coeur d'Alene School District elementary schools on registration day, Aug. 24, to meet students and answer parents' questions.
Bus drivers will be located by their school buses in the bus loading zones. Route information, school bus registration forms and school bus conduct forms will be available.
"We feel it is important for kids to meet the person who will be their first contact with the school each morning," said Jill Hill, transportation director. "It will also be very helpful to our drivers to meet the families and know anything that will help make the child's experience on the bus a very positive one."
The district has about 35 elementary routes. Drivers come from a variety of backgrounds and include many retired people, including former police officers. A driver must undergo fingerprinting, a background check and thorough training for employment with the district. Bus drivers are also subject to random drug testing.
Hill said the district is fortunate to have little turnover among its drivers. "People come and they stay.
"Many of our drivers have been on the same routes for years and have come to know and love the families they serve."