Pioneer Recognition: Bus drivers, transportation department crucial in district success

Pioneer Recognition: Bus drivers, transportation department crucial in district success
NV Media

NOTE: Each month Nooksack Valley Schools is featuring the work of a classified staff department throughout the district. September offers an opportunity to look at the bus drivers and transportation department. 

Bill Peters has the longest tenure of all 20 Nooksack Valley Schools bus drivers. His 27 years of dedicated experience has given him the opportunity to safely drive routes, train new drivers and build relationships with multiple generations of students. 

“It is fun to create relationships,” Peters says. “It is not always easy, but it is fun.” He knows of nine students that he drives where he also drove their parents. “I see them now,” he says, “and the parents still call me Mr. Peters. I tell them, you can call me Bill. You get to know people in the community, you try to build relationships.” 

Peters says he loves the support he gets from the school district. Having pastored at a small, local church for 30 years, retiring this past summer, Peters says driving bus was an ideal job to have while he was a pastor. “It is a great school to work for,” he says. “It is like a family atmosphere and a lot of us drivers have driven for many years together.”

The new ones, though, have Peters to thank for their training as the district’s lead driver-trainer. With a focus on safety — “everything we do is regarding the safety of students and the community” — Peters says every new bus driver has a 25-hour class they must pass as a minimum, plus memorize a detailed 10-page pre-trip checklist, not even counting the other certifications, such as first aid and CPR. 

Chris Haugen, the district’s transportation supervisor, says the public likely doesn’t understand the process to become certified and keep that certification valid. “To have these bus drivers who come here and are committed to the district and stay for a long time, get to know the kids on the route and build relationships with kids and parents, it is great for us,” Haugen says. “They are out there solving problems that occur right on the spot. Having committed drivers to your district is just vital to running the fleet.” 

Nooksack Valley Schools transports about 1,000 students every morning and then again in the afternoon, running routes for the middle and high schools first. Buses start rolling out of the district garage at the middle school site as early as 6:15 a.m. The second morning route has students to the elementary schools around 8:45 a.m. for the 9 a.m. school start time. Then it all happens again, with the afternoon drop-off routes starting with the 2:15 release of the middle and high schools and then the 3:15 p.m. release of elementary schools. 

And that isn’t all. With the 26 buses owned by the district, along with the regular routes, there are also preschool routes, tutorial buses for after-school events, special education drivers and, of course, the long list of extras, such as athletic events. 

“The transportation department does a fantastic job taking care of our athletic department, coaches and athletes,” says Tom Harmon, athletic director. “Their flexibility with schedules and trips is unmatched around the county. In my 12 years as athletic direct, we have yet to have a trip or day that was canceled due to lack of transportation.” 

Each of the district’s 20 contracted drivers has a route and the five substitute drivers, along with the contracted drivers, help handle all the extra trips needed to make the district run smoothly. 

“Transportation gets to be a pretty complicated procedure throughout the school year with a lot of different variables,” Haugen says. 

Harmon says he appreciates the long hours drivers put in at athletic events, sometimes driving in less than ideal conditions while keeping students safe. “They have the same Purple Pride you find all around the valley,” he says. “Being a top-shelf department is important to everyone.” 

Along with Haugen, an administrative assistant, Sharilyn Peters, and a mechanic, Derek Stanbro, keep the department running. Stanbro, the mechanic, runs a two-bay shop for almost all service and repair, taking care of all he can in-house. 

Peters knows the importance, though, of the relationships with the students and the community. “We are representing the school district and we are their eyes in the community,” he says. “For the kids, we are often the first ones they see in the morning.” The role of a bus driver, while never ending, is also multi-faceted.