Impressive team effort gets the students to school safely each day

Before most families pour their first cup of coffee in the morning, bus driver Richard Dymond and bus attendant Rolando Giz — who rides along to track behavior and the safety of the student passengers — are among the many staff members on their way to pick up elementary, middle and high school students for school. 

On a March afternoon, with the stop sign on the bus fully extended, Dymond gave the signal to Giz that it was safe to help middle school students cross the road. When Giz spotted a motorist who ignored the stop sign, he lunged forward to prevent the students from walking into harm's way. 

“It was a difficult moment, especially for the students,” Giz said. “I am grateful that I was able to see what was happening and was able to avoid a real disaster. The next morning, one of the student’s mothers came to us and thanked us for the help with this incident that turned out to be nothing, but could have been something serious.”

“It's a privilege to drive the precious cargo of our kids and get them home and to school safely, and with all the traffic we have, it's a huge challenge,” Dymond said. “Every day that we're able to do it, I feel elated.” 

When it comes to the transportation department, communication is key. While bus drivers are the people who are thought of immediately, there are various people behind the scenes helping to coordinate the safe travel of students as well.

Jamie Warrington, the director of transportation services for Manatee County Schools, said most operation staff within the transportation department are clocked in and ready by 6 a.m. to troubleshoot any unforeseen circumstances such as a backup on local roads or anything else that might delay the safe delivery of students to school. 

“Most of the morning stuff is on the fly, because situations arise that you don't know if they're going to happen or not,” Warrington said. “In the afternoon, you have a little bit more time to plan and get notifications and things of that nature. Our emphasis is always going to be on the morning and trying to be on time, because getting the kids off the street and into a safe environment is the priority.” 

As of June 19, the district had 98 school bus drivers and 103 bus attendants hired to operate 97 buses and six vans. There will be 110 to 112 routes and Warrington hopes to have at least 20 more drivers prior to the start of the next school year.

“Almost everybody who works here as a driver has said ‘I never thought I could do it,’” Dymond said. “Your brain gets acclimated to the size of the bus, and it becomes second nature, even though it looks daunting at first.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Warrington said running the transportation department is truly a partnership — not just between the staff, but also between the staff, students and families.

“Parents have high expectations of us and rightfully so,” Warrington said. “I have high expectations of my staff to perform their job to the best of their ability and we expect that students and parents recognize their job as drivers and attendants is difficult. There's a lot going on and that driver needs to be focusing on the road and maintaining safety of the bus. By default, when students are unruly or disrespectful or are not compliant and following the rules, it makes their job that much harder.” 

Warrington further explained he is not blaming the kids, but does acknowledge that behavior has scared away potential drivers and staff in the past. He said the community has supported transportation and they do everything in their power to get kids to school safe and on time, even with unexpected delays.

Warrington said the supervisors work on the afternoon coverage while also meeting with drivers during the downtime between their morning runs and afternoon runs. They also watch videos to address behavior issues, which Warrington said is a time consuming process. 

“You’ve got to know the date and roughly the time. Often (the drivers) don't know what the time was,” Warrington said. “You wind up having to watch the whole afternoon ride home from school or the whole ride in the morning to see if something's on there that the principal needs to address. The supervisors are responsible for that.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Quentrail McEwen, a supervisor and route administrator with Manatee County schools, said working as a supervisor is extremely fast-paced because every day is different. She noted communication with drivers, attendants, schools, parents and staff through phone calls, emails, messages and meetings is her primary responsibility. 

“It keeps you on your toes, but it’s also rewarding because everyone comes together to make sure students are transported safely,” McEwen said. 

When certain buses are out of order due to some kind of a deficiency or a state mandated inspection, equipment including safety vests and car seats need to be moved. Buses are checked regularly for any and all potential hazards, making sure all lights, brakes and more work correctly. 

“It’s definitely a team effort to make everything work the way that it's supposed to work,” Warrington said. “How do you explain chaos?”

“Transportation works because every position plays an important role,” McEwen said. “Route analysts create efficient routes, operators safely transport students, attendants assist drivers and students on the bus, dispatch helps maintain communication between schools and drivers and supervisors help coordinate operations and problem-solve when needed. There has to be strong communication and teamwork between everyone, because each department depends on the other. We all work toward the same goal, which is making sure students are transported safely and efficiently.”