School Bus Driver - Perfect Job for Retired Person

While a retired person doesn't generally want to work a 40-hour work week, a part-time job is a great idea because it can bring in that little extra income you need or want. The biggest trouble with nearly all part time jobs is this: Most of them require either evening or weekend work, which many people like me would rather avoid. That eliminates most part-time jobs.

What job does it leave? School bus driver! No evening or weekend work, plus many holidays (any holiday the kids don't go to school, plus many teacher in service days), two weeks for "winter break" and one week for spring break, and 10 weeks off for the summer on top of all that!

While it is possible to work nearly full time, or even full time, as a school bus driver, many retired people, like me, drive a school bus about four to five hours a day - usually 2 hours or so in the morning and then 2½ hours or so in the afternoon.

Sweet!

The pay can be quite good actually. The pay depends upon who you work for, though. If you drive for one of the companies that service many school districts, like First Student, Laidlaw and a few others, the pay can be minimal at best - $10 to $12 an hour or about 2/3 the pay one receives at a local school district like Evergreen School District in Vancouver, Washington. Evergreen Transportation is just a division of the school district itself. The pay is very good (well over $18 an hour), plus building a PERS retirement account for later years, too. One can earn in 28 hours what would require 40 hours at the independent places, so it's worth going to one that is part of a school district.

There are perhaps a few drawbacks to driving a school bus. For some, one of the most obvious possible drawbacks is putting up with the kids, and there are always a few kids you'd like to wring their little necks, but for the most part, many of them really are very endearing.

For those that do act up, and there are always at least a few that will rise to the occasion, there are many things the driver can do to remain in control of the situation. Remaining in control is KEY, by the way. Assigning them to a front seat works well for some. Doing what they call a "write up", is the next step. After several of these, a student may be suspended from the bus for a short while, if supported by the school administration. They're worst in the afternoons. Pulling over and shutting the engine off gets their attention, too, especially if you pull out a book and start reading untill they quiet down - they want to go home!

The nice thing about any discipline that is done is this: ALL the students on the bus learn how the driver deals with problem kids, every time any discipline is done - they are all watching and learning.

THE most important thing a driver can do, to remain in control, is to learn every students name and use it every day. This one thing makes all the difference.

I've been driving for about 8 years now, and I really like it. While I wouldn't do it for free, it is a very rewarding job - trying to make each day better for each student. The driver is the first person connected with their school that they see in the morning, and the last one they see in the afternoon. A driver can make a difference in their day, and in their life - and in their learning.

One more point: high school kids are the best; middler school kids are the worst; elementary kids are a grab bag, mostly good and the most fun.

I highly recommend being a school bus driver.

Excuse me, gotta go - time to go get the little darlins...