Every weekday at 3:10 PM, the sound of an electronic bell is heard throughout Armuchee High School. As hallways flood from dismissal, a large portion of the students migrate to the bus loop at the front of the school. Many of these students board buses, or wait for their bus to arrive at the school. Without much thought, they get on their bus, ride the same route home, and get off around the same time every day. With such a regular routine, the average student doesn’t really think about what all is going on. Freshman student Mia Dominguez, who rides bus 19-40, said, “I don’t think that much about my bus. I just go home.” Sixteen buses, courtesy of the drivers, safely transport students to and from the Armuchee schools, but it isn’t easy. For the first time in a while, our bus drivers are going to be put in the spotlight.

While they don’t get a ton of recognition, bus drivers have a difficult job that comes with a huge responsibility. Mrs. Sarah Forrester is Armuchee’s Super Sub, and drives all of the different routes. She trained and started driving in November 2024, and gave some insight to what it’s like driving the bus. She said, “For starters, driving the bus itself isn’t the easiest thing to do. Driving a standard car can already be nerve racking, with all the factors of making sure you are driving correctly, and watching for other people who are not. Increasing the vehicle size can also increase all of the difficulty. With about 40 feet of length, maneuvering a school bus is a lot more difficult than your standard car. Turns have to be made very specifically in order to stay on the road. Drivers must take turns extra wide, watch where the rear wheels are, and account for tail swing. Tail swing is the distance between the rear wheels and the rear end of the vehicle, which is nearly ⅓  of the bus, that swings out in the opposite direction of which you are turning.

Just for maneuverability alone, drivers have to make sure the side towards where they are going doesn’t scrape something or go off the road, while at the same time making sure the rear end on the other side doesn’t hit anything. Pair all of this with tight roads and traffic. Just driving a vehicle that large isn’t the easiest thing to do.” Driving the bus itself is already a challenge. At the same time, you have student management. Forrester, in addition to the bus part of driving, gave insight on what all drivers have to do simultaneously. She said, “People often talk about how teaching isn’t an easy job, in part because of keeping the students in line. Picture 2 full classrooms worth of students, all ranging from Pre-k to 12th grade all together, and trying to keep them well behaved in their seats. Now pair that with the difficulties of driving the bus itself, and keeping track of both at the same time. Sounds a little stressful right? Keeping so many differently aged children in line, who you can only really see in a rather small mirror above you, all while simultaneously defensively driving such a large vehicle.”

While covering bus 20-67, Forrester experienced extreme misbehavior from students. “They kept holding their posters up in the air, despite being told to stop multiple times. Students had trouble sitting in their seats while being extremely noisy.” With these unsafe conditions, Forrester was forced to get control of the occupants. “I pulled that bus over 3 times that day. Multiple students were moved, from the back, to the front seats. I also had to put them on Silent Bus, because they could not stop being so loud.” Forrester shows a great real-life situation of what drivers may have to do in order to keep control of the students and the ride safe. School bus drivers are responsible for safely driving the bus while keeping the occupants managed. With so many important tasks being done at the same time, it is certainly more strenuous than several other occupations.

It takes a tough person to take on school bus driving, one of those people is none other than Mrs. Joslynn Marsh, who drives bus 19-40 for the Armuchee schools. Dominguez is one of the many students she safely transports daily. Through interviewing and conversation, we were able to hear about her perspective as a bus driver. Just like any other job, school bus driving comes with its benefits and non-benefits. While the most challenging part of the job may vary from person to person, Marsh said, “I’d say the most challenging part about being a bus driver is the possibility of distractions and unpredictability, both inside and outside the bus.” She added, “It’s important to establish a rapport with your students. Be firm but fair.” Ms. Kacie Freeman, who drives bus 20-71, gave a similar response, saying that the most challenging part is not having a monitor. She said, “Paying attention to safety for the students and safety for driving.” The regular person doesn’t give much thought into how challenging being a school bus driver is. They are responsible for safely transporting students to and from school, which is an extremely important task that comes with responsibility and accountability for the driver. It can certainly be a struggle, and it isn’t for everyone, but the job can be done.

The student perspective of the transportation operations appears to be very minimal compared to the driver’s perception. Cara Mullins is a daily rider on Freeman’s bus 20-71. Cara, like most other students, doesn’t give much attention to the bus. Mullins said, “I ride the bus every morning; I sit and listen to music.” When asked, Cara expressed that she does not have any bus-related thoughts about what may be going on behind the scenes. Mullins does however claim to have positive interactions with her driver. “Kacie is always a nice bus driver; she’s nice and always caring about her kids.” Many students, including Cara, really like drivers like Freeman, knowing that their driver cares about them. While it goes unnoticed by most students what all the bus drivers are doing, the love shown from drivers is more apparent to many.

While being a school bus driver comes with such large responsibilities and challenges, the position isn’t all downsides. Freeman says that the most rewarding part of being a driver is getting to know the students. She said, “The most rewarding part is getting to spend time with, and getting to know the students year after year.” A lot of adults can agree that there is something special about seeing a child grow up. While most school teachers may only have a student for a year or two, many bus drivers get to see students every day, from the beginning and all the way to the end of their school career. Mrs. Marsh has several things she considers as the most beneficial. She said, “Being a bus driver is rewarding to me for many reasons: I enjoy listening to my little ones get excited about the smallest things. They also give me hugs and high fives. My middle aged kids are funny and my high school kids are helpful. There’s also a good work and home balance.” The position of bus drivers is usually overlooked. For many students, they are the first and last school employees that they see every day, which can make a big impact on how one may view school. 

Being the ones who take the kids to and from school, bus drivers have different schedules than the average person. Marsh described how her daily schedule goes. She said, “My day begins at 5:45 AM. I get up and wake my kids up, then make them breakfast. Once me and my kids get up and around, we leave the house at 6:50 to drive my A.M bus route. By 7:35, I’m done with my morning route and back home. At 11 AM, I get back on the bus again for a mid-day route. This route is a drop off. But, I’m back home at 12 PM. I go home, and wait to pick them up. I leave home at 2 PM, to pick up my mid-day route, then bring them back to the high school. Finally, I do my PM route, take everyone home, and finish my day out at 4 PM. In between each of these routes, I have time to do shopping, if I need to clean the house, or do small projects.” The job certainly creates an abnormal schedule, but that’s what it takes to do it.

If you take anything from this article, let it be appreciation for the school bus drivers. They really don’t get much recognition. What’s ironic is that they are really the backbone of the school system. If there were no drivers, public schools would essentially have to close. The job is rewarding, but still tough. So next time you see a bus driver, follow their rules, be respectful, and thank them for safely transporting you.