What School Bus Drivers Wish You Knew
For administrators and parents alike, the time children spend on a school bus can be shrouded in mystery. It’s not like there are chaperones (besides the school bus contractor’s employees, of course), so the only thing other adults get to see after a bus ride are the results—if the students are happy or sad, for example. When concerned parents and conscientious school administrators don’t understand the logic behind certain actions the bus driver may take, they may counterproductively disagree with said actions, leaving bus drivers without the practices they need to keep kids happy, healthy, and safe.
Rest assured that when you have Northstar Bus Lines working as your student transportation services, every action, both on and off the bus, is for the welfare of the children whom we care for. Even if it doesn’t seem obvious right away to you what the purpose is, you can relax knowing that our well-trained, professional drivers have things under control.
That being said, you do deserve to know the reasoning behind our bus-ride rules, our road-related requests, and the like. If anything we do while working with you is concerning or confusing, just give us a call. We’d be happy to chat about it directly and clarify!
Or, you can read on for two big things that our group transportation services employees (and, probably, the employees of other school bus services too) wish you knew about our day-to-day operations.
Assigned Seats Are More Complicated Than You Might Think
We know, we know: Your kid or students might complain to no end that they can’t sit by their friend when they ride to and from school. How unfair, they may insist!
However, when an employee of a school bus contractor designates seats, it’s always for a reason. School bus services employees (or at least the good ones like ours) always have the welfare of the children and the quality of the ride in mind, and assigning seats can help ensure both.
Assigned seats can cut down on noise levels.
Have you ever tried to drive while two children chatter away in the backseat? That’s loud enough to cause problems with concentration, but multiply that noise level by tenfold, and that’s what some school bus services employees have to deal with when seats are left unorganized.
School bus drivers, while often used to to work under noisy conditions, can always do their job best when they can hear themselves think—as can anyone!
Assigned seats can minimize bullying incidents.
Again, our school bus services work hard to keep every kid happy and safe. However, bus drivers need to, well, drive, and they cannot have their eyes on all the kids behind them at once.
If a bullying incident comes to the driver’s attention, assigned seats can separate the offender from the victim and minimize the chances of it happening again with minimal supervision.
Assigned seats help bus drivers keep track of children.
At Northstar Bus Lines, we like to make sure all our kids are safe and well-cared for, from the time they step on the bus to the time they arrive at their destination. We also like to know where those kids are at, specifically speaking, while they’re in our care.
Having assigned seats helps us to make sure they get off at the correct stop and that each child feels properly seen, heard, and attended to.
As you can see, assigned seats can happen on your child or students’ buses for a variety of reasons, all of which are justifiable and help to keep kids comfortable and safe.
Have a question about why a young person in your life is made to sit in a certain place? Just ask the school bus contractor! Good group transportation services will have a valid answer.
Good School Bus Services Always Follow a Post-Route Routine
As anyone who has fallen asleep on the bus can attest to, missing your stop can be traumatizing—even if the nap that preceded it was, in contrast, quite nice!
Luckily for parents and school staff alike, good student transportation services have their post-route routine down pat. Drivers always do a walk of the buses from front to back, checking each seat one by one to make sure it’s vacant. This way, no kids are left hanging out at the bus garage when they really should be in class.
Worried your school bus contractor’s drivers aren’t doing this sort of check? Perhaps it’s time you found a new provider of group transportation services!
Work With the Most Forthright School Bus Services: Northstar Bus Lines
We strive to remove the mystery and confusion from student transportation services! Our quality-first approach to business and jolly drivers are just a few ways in which we do so.
Learn more about our student transportation services by calling our Maple Grove office at 763-425-2542.