BEHIND THE WHEEL: SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS DELIVER STUDENTS TO SCHOOL, HOME AGAIN

JACKSON - Each fall, Jane Oehl and Butch Schneider look forward to greeting their 60-plus children.

They're not absentee parents with large families; they're school bus drivers for the Jackson School District, and their "children" are students who ride their buses.

Oehl and Schneider are among 43 bus drivers who transport about 2,800 students - kindergarten through high school to and from school. Total enrollment of the district is about 3,700.

Student Transportation Coordinator Jean Kurre says most of the 900 students who do not ride the bus are high-school students who drive their cars to school. "I know that because our buses have to wade through the traffic jam every day," she said.

The 43 buses operate over 52 city and rural routes, traveling a total of 2,010 miles each day. With 550 square miles, the Jackson School District is the largest district geographically within Southeast Missouri.

Although many school districts now use buses with automatic transmissions, most of the Jackson buses have manual, split-axle transmissions. Kurre said women outnumber men as bus drivers, and the drivers include housewives and mothers, businessmen and farmers.

Why would anyone want to drive a bus with more than 60 noisy, animated children aboard?

Oehl and Schneider agreed it's not for the money. "If I did it for the money alone, I wouldn't do it," said Schneider. "But I love to drive and enjoy being around kids," said Schneider, a co-owner of SEMO Specialties and Sports.

Oehl agreed: "I enjoy driving and meeting my students each day when they get on the bus, and sharing their ups and downs. And believe it or not, being a school bus driver keeps you young; it certainly keeps you in tune with the latest fads that are popular with the kids."

Oehl has been a driver for seven years. She drove three years for the Oak Ridge School District before becoming a driver for the Jackson district. But her experience at driving large, heavy vehicles goes back even further.

Oehl and her husband, Doyle, and their two children, John, 12, and Maria, 7, live on a farm eight miles north of Jackson along Route D.

As a farm wife, Oehl has driven everything from a big grain truck to a tractor and other farm implements. So the transition from grain truck to school bus wasn't all that great.

"Instead of hauling grain, I'm carrying the most precious cargo there is," Oehl said.

Schneider has been a bus driver for nine years, all with the Jackson district. "I got started because I was self-employed and wanted to earn a little extra money, and I enjoyed driving," he said. "After a while, bus driving kind of grows on you."

Because of his work, Schneider has a city route that he runs in about an hour. Oehl's morning route begins at the farm and ends in town; the afternoon route winds up at the farm, where the school bus is parked.

Oehl said she likes to think back to what it was like when she rode the bus to school each day.

"Try to remember how you felt when school was out, and you're on the bus going home or riding the bus home on a Friday afternoon. It's still the same: kids are always active and talk a lot. It does get a little noisy at times, but as long as you keep it under control, it's alright," she says.

"I really enjoy report card day," said Oehl. "When the kids get on the bus, the first thing they want to do is share their good report card with you. They're all excited about it, and you're the first adult they see when they leave school."

Schneider said he enjoys greeting the students each morning and asking them how they are. He said he also enjoys it when students who ride his bus come up to him in a store and introduce him to their parents. "It really makes you feel good," he said.

Because they usually have the same students each year, Oehl and Schneider get to know them by name. "That really helps," said Oehl. "You can often spot a potential discipline problem before it starts."

Both said they have watched some of their riders develop from feisty, noisy kindergarten and elementary students into well-behaved young adults.

If there is a downside to driving, Oehl says its students getting sick on the bus. "That's a real downer," she said. "I keep a container on the bus for that kind of emergency, and with kids it happens several times a year."

Schneider says 95 percent of the time everything goes well. "It's when that other 5 percent comes up that you've really got to be up to speed, because no matter what happens you're in charge of the bus, and responsible for the lives of over 60 children," he said.

Requirements for being a school bus driver are very strict in Missouri. Not just anyone can drive.

First you must have a Class B or Class A Missouri commercial driver's license with bus endorsement. Some drivers have an additional air-brakes endorsement to operate buses with air brakes.

To get a CDL, you must be able to show that you can operate a school bus or other large, commercial vehicle safely. That means a written test and road-skills test given by the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Before a person is permitted to transport students on a bus, you must have a Missouri school bus driver permit. Drivers applying for the permit must pass an extensive physical examination, a written Missouri school bus driver's permit examination given by the patrol, and an extensive road-skills and knowledge test in the school bus they will operate.

In addition, a thorough background check is made of each applicant's driving record and criminal history before a school bus driver permit is issued.

School bus drivers who drive for private carriers that transport students under contract with school districts, such as Ryder Student Transportation Services of Cape Girardeau, are also Department of Transportation certified. That means passing a DOT physical examination and road-skills test.

The next time you see a school bus stopped to load or unload children, help the bus driver by stopping your vehicle promptly and watching out for students crossing the street. The bus drivers will appreciate your cooperation, and so will the parents of the children riding the bus.