Garden City school bus driver Jerry Guerrero recently took first place in the Experienced Transit Driver Division at the Kansas State Pupil Transportation Association Safe Driver Competition in Wichita.
The competition was part of the association’s School Transportation Safety Symposium held May 31 – June 2. Event winners received their awards at a banquet on June 2.
Other USD 457 drivers who competed included Nick Nethery, June Davis, and Kathleen Pepera.
The school bus safety competition is designed to recognize excellence in school bus drivers while demonstrating skills needed in their demanding jobs of safely transporting students. The competition consists of a written exam and a series of skills tests.
he written examination tests the school bus drivers’ knowledge in all areas of school bus operations, laws, rules and regulations. This portion of the competition assesses the drivers’ knowledge as well as their ability to comprehend and respond to written instructions.
The driving skills portion of the competition requires the drivers to demonstrate exemplary skills in such areas as law/regulation knowledge, school bus inspections, and bus driving skill maneuvers. The drivers are challenged to maneuver a school bus around obstacles and demonstrate that they know all the ins and outs of operating a school bus.
The Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department has 35 professional drivers and 11 personnel that work to safely transport around 3,000 students per day, as well as 225 special needs students with daily door-to-door service.
The school buses travel a total of 3,500 miles per day or approximately 575,275 miles per school year.
The department covers 115 routes across the district during each morning and afternoon.