A lot of attention for one school bus driver

School bus driver and mother of two Minta Gracia is getting a lot of attention in the blogosphere after a CNN story about her request to President Obama to stop foreclosures. According to the story the home that was worth $800,000 when she bought it is now worth $676,000 and she's just received notice that her mortgage may be in danger of going into foreclosure.

"Like countless other Americans, Garcia admits she and her husband bought more house than they could afford. But she says the lender made the purchase all too easy," the story notes.

What impact is the economy having on your town? Your fellow drivers? Your school?

Highlights of the Week

Bus No. 6 provides some lighthearted blogging at the end of a long week. This week, Mr. Bus Driver, the "cranky old codger who’s been driving a school bus since '92" warns that there are three things a driver should never trust: kids, the weatherman and the gauges. On gauges he warns:

When my bus is running on fumes, my fuel gauge reads only half empty. If I were to trust my fuel gauge, I'd end up out of fuel in the cow pasture with a bus load of little ones, surrounded by a herd of cows "taking care of business." And every one of those little ones would be covering their noses and begging to walk home -- even if their homes were just around the corner, which they never are. I ran out of fuel once that way, and I'll never let it happen again. When the odometer reads that I've gone 350 miles, I start thinking about adding fuel.

We'd argue (or say the techs might want to take a look take a look at those gauges) but Mr. Driver says these are lessons learned by "experience, trial and error, getting up at 5 and grabbing the bus by the horns and teaching it who's boss!"

Last week, we heard one driver gripe about the sticky, icky candy that always ends up on her bus around Valentines Day. Turns out, Friday the 13th was no horror. "For those wondering, my Valentine's "Friday the 13th" was quite pleasurable," she wrote us. "The kids were remarkably well behaved and very well mannered."

One driver wasn't so lucky. What started as candy hearts being thrown on a Frederick, Md., school bus wound up with a turn back to school, a punched window, a stolen iPod, an asthma attack, an upset parent and a call to police.

Finally, seat belt bills in Colorado and Wyoming moved forward this week. More on both soon.

Valentines Day and Other Holidays One School Bus Driver Loves to Hate

Valentine's Day is almost here and along with the cards and conversation hearts comes a minor gripe from one school bus driver: all that candy that inevitably winds up on the bus. The Musings and Rantings of a School Bus Driver counts down the Six Holidays Drivers Love to Hate, including V-Day:

"Ahh, the day of love and cherishment. A day for a child to express feelings as a secret admirer and to exchange 'Be My Valentine' cards with EVERY OTHER child in their class. This, by far, is my favorite of the “candy” holidays as a bus driver. Why? You ask? Because, my dear readers, the children put NAMES on the cards, and I can write them up for eating and drinking on the bus. I know, its grinch-like, but when you’ve been sweeping up wrappers all year, you finally have your culprits in hand and name."

Here's to hoping one of our favorite school bus bloggers gets a clean bus and maybe a few valentines from the kids this year.

Weekend Post: No Lounge Couch Potato

With the weekend fast approaching, we thought we'd share one of our favorite school bus drivers who blog. Between routes, Kayak Kevin scuba dives, kayaks and films underwater. In a quick post today, he tells about a jaunt to the Shore between routes. In an older post, he explains explains just what it takes to squeeze in seaside sports between runs. Between a 9:20 a.m. drop off and a 12:20 p.m. arrival back at school, he manages to squeeze in coffee and a snack, a kayak ride through a kelp bed and hose down of the boat, and a quick lunch (no mention of a shower).

@ STN EXPO 2009: How School Bus Drivers Can Stop Sexual Predators

Recently, we announced that author, law enforcement professional and member of one of Florida's Child Abduction Response Teams Dr. Duane Dobbert will present a four-hour pre-conference session as well as a general session on identifying sexual predators. So far, Dobbert has trained thousands of pupil transporters in his program "School Bus Drivers: The First Line of Defense Against Sexual Predators." Said Dobbert:

“In all of my 39 years of service I have never met a group of professionals more dedicated and active in getting the job done and protecting children ... School bus drivers are truly my heroes, and I wish everyone in the United States would realize the wonderful service they provide to our school age children.”

In the video below, Dobbert expands on the idea:



More about this year's School Transportation News Conference and EXPO at www.stnconference.com. More about Dobbert at www.drduanedobbert.com.