Student safety top priority for YHS school bus drivers
BROOKE CATES

VANESSA FIERSTADT
Sandy Dew, left, and Virginia Smith.

What is it like being a bus driver? Everyday they face challenges they have to overcome, including weather conditions, getting up very early in the morning, stress, and of course, the students.

So what is the most challenging part of the job? Virginia Smith, the transportation supervisor for Yosemite High School, believes that the toughest thing for most people is “trying to drive as safely as possible while knowing that you’re responsible for everybody that you have your back turned to.”

Sandy Dew, a bus driver at YHS and the transportation secretary, thinks that it is always the temperament of the students. She says that around Halloween the students are always sugared up, and around finals the students show a great deal of stress and tension.

One might assume that all the switches on the bus would be difficult to remember as to which ones do what. Dew says that it is hard only in a stressful situation. Smith, who often is a substitute driver, says that when you are a substitute bus driver it can be difficult to remember which switches do what, because the switches are located in different spots on each bus.

Smith says that it is very challenging the drive the bus and keep an eye on the students at the same time. This is “the part that either makes the person love being a bus driver, or makes them find another job,” she says

Dew says that you most assuredly have to have the ability to multitask.

A lot of the time, students try to take advantage of the substitute drivers. Smith jokes that it is really hard...on the students. All jokes aside, she says you have to be strict to get them to listen.

Weather conditions can create a great amount of stress. Both Dew and Smith say that they have to expect more from the students because they have to really concentrate. Dew says that the stress levels are much higher. She worries about other drivers' speed. whether the bus can handle the weather, if she needs to chain up, if the road is too slippery, if the windows are too foggy to see the roads, if it is too hot, and even if the wind is blowing her hair into her face to the point that she cannot see the road.

Smith says there isn’t anything about being a bus driver that she doesn’t like. She likes it all, but if she were forced to pick something, it would be getting up at 3:50 in the morning, and not getting home until 5:30 in the evening.

Dew agrees that her least favorite part would also have to be getting up so early. She also doesn’t like having to load the bus so full. She says that the state mandates the maximum students per bus. The school is not allowed to get another bus until a bus is completely full.

Dew’s favorite thing about being a bus driver is watching the students grow and change. She loves “the opportunity to encourage students when they’re down."