Editor’s note: This story is part of Xpress’ annual Kids Issue series.
Bryan Newton has a full-time job managing facilities at Camp Cedar Cliff. Still, he gets up at 5 every morning to drive about 22 students to school at Charles C. Bell Elementary School. Like many in his position, Newton doesn’t do it for the money. He does it just to stay connected to the community.
“I know all my students, all the parents on the route, and it’s a great way to be involved with your community and to give back,” he says.
Newton is one of around 225 bus drivers who report to duty each day, transporting thousands of students to Asheville City Schools (ACS) and Buncombe County Schools (BCS).
These high-stakes, low-paying jobs (drivers make between $18 and $23 an hour) often go unnoticed, says Jeremy Stowe, BCS’ director of transportation. And because shifts range from two to five hours split between the morning and afternoon, many drivers hold second and third jobs both in and outside the school system.
“When you’re a bus driver, you know you are carrying these students who are the most precious cargo,” says Danny Fusco, principal at Bell Elementary, who regularly fills in when a driver calls out sick. “You’re focused on the driving aspect and also watching the students and making sure that everybody is following the rules and everybody’s getting along. It’s a major responsibility.”
Dedicated drivers
Part of that responsibility also includes being prepared for unexpected delays.
Fusco remembers an incident years ago when a bus got stuck in the mud in a rural part of northern Buncombe County. He and Stowe, who was then a principal, put chains on the bus’s tires and managed to get it unstuck.
More recently, landslides, downed trees and closed roads caused by Tropical Storm Helene have created additional hurdles for city and county bus routes. And while Newton notes his route has largely returned to normal after the storm, he still regularly hits a delay on Riceville Road because of slow-moving trucks picking up debris or an occasional road repair.
In addition to exterior factors, ACS driver Rick “Big Rick” Stevenson, who has been driving for 17 years, says he and fellow drivers must also manage their passengers. Unlike classrooms, which typically have around 25 students, buses can hold up to as many as 60 riders.
“Some days, it’s difficult. It drives your patience. You have to remember that you’re dealing with adolescents. They’re not processing the same way that you are,” he says. “It’s like a soap opera. You know, the little girls have these little episodes that go on between them, and one day they’re friends, one day they’re not.”
But ultimately, Stevenson loves driving the bus, calling the job “fun, challenging and rewarding.”
One of the best payoffs, several drivers say, is the trust and genuine respect they get from the kids.
“We are the first ones kids see in the morning, and we’re the last ones they see in the afternoon. Bus drivers get to know things about the kids. They confide in us. They trust us,” says Nae’em Akbar, driver with ACS.
“There’s nothing better than them getting off the bus at the school and saying, ‘I love you, Miss Gigi.’ You can have a bad day and get on the bus, and it’s better,” adds Gwen Goldthwaite, a transportation safety assistant who helps manage kids on exceptional children buses.
Safety first
Amanda Rigsby, transportation director for ACS, says compliance from automobile drivers is the biggest issue bus drivers face when delivering kids to and from school. Too often, she notes, car drivers do not adhere to the flashing stop signs that pop out along the side of a yellow bus.
Ignoring these rules, adds Goldthwaite, risks everyone’s safety. When children step off the bus, she notes, they are like “little ferrets chasing aluminum foil. … If they see something, they may start to go for it. And if somebody’s running that stop arm, it’s very dangerous.”
Icy roads are another hazard. In the winter, the two districts’ transportation departments work together to ensure roads are safe to drive before making any decisions on whether or not to cancel school. Staff members drive roads early in the morning to determine if a big yellow bus can safely traverse every route, Rigsby and Stowe say.
“It’s a major responsibility,” Fusco notes. “We’re so fortunate to have drivers with experience … because things can happen in a split second.”
For parents, this attention and concern does not go unnoticed.
On a recent Friday afternoon, Zubila Shafiq greeted her children as they disembarked from Newton’s bus. “Our day is dependent on the fact that he shows up to work to make sure our kids get home safely,” she says. “It’s hard to put into words, honestly, to know that they’re going to be fine and safe when they get home.”
For fellow parent Annaleis Chermisqui, Newton’s services are recognized each year with a Christmas gift. “And I’m picky about who I give Christmas gifts,” she says.
For the kids
For Newton, driving the bus is a privilege and a joy, especially on field trips. Recent outings include an elementary school trip to a llama farm and apple orchard in Henderson County as well as a journey to downtown Asheville for a theater production of The Nutcracker.
“There’s no better way to spend a day than taking a large group of students and teachers to a fun place, educational place, to learn some things and just be there all together. I love those days,” he says.
You can’t help but smile hanging out with these kids every day, he adds.
Last Christmas, the students on his bus erupted in song, attempting to harmonize on Christmas carols as he drove them to school.
As Fusco, Stowe and Rigsby all say, the driver’s role is to set the tone for the child’s whole day. After all, they are the first school employees to see the students in the morning and the last to see them in the afternoon.
“A good bus driver is going to love on these kids no matter the day, no matter the consequence, no matter the pressures. Your students will remember fully how that bus driver supported them, loved them and cared for them,” Fusco says.
