Bus drivers have a big responsibility says Johanna Garcia, Director of Transportation for the Norwalk Public Schools. At the beginning of every school year, Garcia meets with all of the Norwalk Public Schools bus drivers, I tell them that you are the first face a child sees in the morning, and the last one at the end of a school day. That is a very important time.
Recently, a Weston bus driver captured local headlines after sending threatening messages to local officials and engaging in a ten hour standoff with New Canaan police outside of his home. The episode left many parents wondering, Could this have been my kids bus driver?
Garcia, who has been the Director of Transportation for the past 14 years, says the driver did not have a history of erratic behavior until recently. It was a case of one crazy person. It's actually not that easy to become a bus driver. Its tougher than you think, she says.
In early August, the Norwalk Board of Education renewed a longstanding contract with First Student, an Ohio-based national bus company (First Student acquired Laidlaw, the districts bus company, in 2007) that services many neighboring towns including Weston. According to Garcia, First Student hires all the drivers. Before getting the job, drivers undergo thorough background checks, take drug and alcohol tests and sexual harrassment training. They have to obtain a special license and pass driving proficiency and safety tests. Drivers also partake in ongoing trainings after being hired.
Garcia says that many district bus drivers work in Norwalk year after year and she knows many of them personally. Several of them, drive the same routes year after year. Norwalk school buses transport 8,000 kids every day with approximately 70 drivers.
Problems do arise from time to time, says Garcia. Last year, two drivers were removed from Norwalk. In one instance, a driver failed to see a sleeping kindergartener in the back of the bus until the end of her route. There is, in fact, an electronic reminder system for drivers to check the bus for sleeping children, which was ignored by this particular driver. If I get a call from a parent, I call around to investigate, she says. I call the school, parents and bus company. Also, Garcia says if there is a problem with the driver, the district can put a camera on the bus or request the bus company put an extra monitor on the bus. We have the authority to remove any driver, says Garcia. First Student is responsible for actually firing the driver.
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