Jackson school bus drivers win district safety competition

For Brenda Harris, a bus driver at the Jackson School District, the best part of her job is helping students have a positive start and end to their school day.

"I love that we can give them a little bit of hope for the day, some inspiration for these kids' lives, because we don't know what they go home to at night," she said. "You're the last person they see when they get off the bus to go to school, and you're the last person they see when they get off at home. So, you have the chance to set the tone for both places."

And always, she said, the main goal of being a bus driver is safely transporting students.

For the second year in a row, Harris, along with bus drivers Lisa Russell and Benny McDowell, took home a first-place award for the district after competing at a statewide safety competition in Lake Ozark, Missouri, earlier this month. The event is hosted each year by the Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation.

The three drivers' combined scores put them above nine other school districts throughout the state, with Russell earning second place overall of 32 people. She will compete at an international competition at Minneapolis in mid-July.

"It was a shock," Russell said of placing second. "I wasn't expecting it."

Russell soon will begin practicing for the international competition, which she is looking forward to, she said, but she also is nervous because it will be her first time flying.

In the weeks leading up to a competition, the drivers create a practice safety course to prepare for 10 driving events. Some of the events include railroad crossing and student pickup procedures, parallel parking, backing up and driving through tight spaces. Each is graded separately, and errors cause the driver to receive demerits, lowering their score.

"The events are so the drivers are used to using their mirrors," McDowell said. "You're required to show you're checking your mirrors before you take off each time."

"Also, our back window is covered," Harris added. "So, you have to rely on your mirrors."

Participants also have to take a written test that includes questions from the state's commercial driver's license manual and the Missouri driver's guide, as well as a section on first-aid procedures.

Everything is timed, McDowell said, with 30 minutes to complete the written test and four minutes to complete some of the driving events.

The drivers also have to inspect their buses for defects, as they would any other day before transporting students.

They must double-check everything is working properly, including the window buzzers, lighting systems and windshield wipers. They also check for loose seats or lug nuts on tires and ensure the gas cap is secure.

The district started competing about 14 years ago. Since, five people, including Russell, have qualified for the international competition, which is more difficult with shorter timed events and two written tests.

The school district's transportation department has about 65 drivers, including substitutes, said Carol Woods, transportation director at the district.

Nearly 3,000 of Jackson's 5,000 students regularly ride a bus to school, she said. In total, the drivers logged more than 670,000 miles during the past school year while covering a 280-square-mile area.

Although the competition includes what the drivers experience on a daily basis, all three participants said they always learn something new.

It also is a place to meet other drivers, Woods said, who share recommendations for ways to improve.

"It is a competition, and we do our best, but everyone else does, too," Woods said.

Harris added: "We're a bus family all the way around, because we have the same goal: Transporting our kids safely to school and back home."

klamb@semissourian.com

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Jackson, Mo.