I'm so excited and yet a nervous wreck all at once. I'm going to school to be a school bus driver. Class ends today for the class room part and then we have to have 20hrs behind the wheel (more if we feel we need it) before they will let us drive alone. We technically weren't supposed to go until tomorrow to try for our permit but the instructor said it would be ok since we knew our stuff. We are a class of 8 and only 2 of us went. I'm going to be a sub until a contract becomes available. I want to drive for Special Needs so I will probably be a sub for a while.

By Conni on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 08:01 am:

Thats great!! I know a girl who was doing this here and she loved being able to work a few hours and make really pretty good money! I think $50 a day for just a few hours or something?

My kids have been riding the bus more this yr and they have the NICEST bus driver. He is way cool! The yrs before they had either drivers that were short tempered or bad drivers! lol Lots of stories.

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 08:02 am:

YEAH! Good for you! How do you go about getting a bus permit? What's involved in the training? I've always been curious.

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 08:03 am:

^5 Kristie!

By Kernkate on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 09:12 am:

Thats Excellent Kristie! I bet you will love it. I have been a bus aide now for a little over a month on our Pre-K bus and I love it! Our driver is excellent and great with the kids. I only work 5 hours a day and the pay is good.
Best of luck to you

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 09:55 am:

Thank you, I can't wait until all my training is over.

Conni- My son really likes his bus driver too, he even got her something for christmas. I was really worried about letting him ride the bus, Virginia Beach has had a lot of bad publicity lately. Lots of accidents. This last December a kid got killed running after a school bus. The drive never even saw the kid until it after he hit him, it was investigated and it was not the drivers fault but none the less, and just recently on the news they had a sub driver take her bus when she was off duty to a pizza place and she hit the building and took off. Then tried to say that she didn't know she hit it.

Trina- I called the school district transportation office and they have a class that you take. They go over everything that you need to know to pass the 4 tests at DMV, 115 questions total (general knowledge, airbrakes, passenger and school bus). Then they go over all the other stuff you need to know to drive the bus safely, pre/post trip inspections, securing wheel chairs and car seats, etc. We were supposed to secure the wheel chairs today and go over blood borne pathegeons but 5 min after class was supose to start they came in and rescheduled for Monday, the instructor is really sick . When all of my training is over, they will go with me to the DMV with a bus to take the final test and I will then have a Class B CDL with airbrakes and passenger and school buss endorsements. I will be able to drive a school bus, transit bus, dump truck, or anything else that falls into cat B. The only catch is I had to sign a contract saying that I will make myself available to them at least 2 days a week for 13 months. After that I am able to go anywhere and I can keep my CDL. If I quit before then I have to pay back all my training and they can cancel my CDL though the DMV.

Kathy- I thought about being an assistant but I would have to commit to everyday and I'm not wanting to do that until the new school year. I wish they had assistants on the regular routes here. I think it would make things so much easier.

They start you out at $9.00/hr as a sub and the best part is I can bring dd with me. She will sit in a car seat right behind me. Its about 2 1/2 hrs in the am and another 2 1/2 hrs in the after noon. I'll have about 4 hrs with dd in between to do whatever. I'm not sure if I want to be a contracted driver (have a steady route every day) unless its for special needs. On the special needs route they give you an assistant, they don't on the other routes. And I don't even want to do that until the next school year. I don't want to drive all summer, I want to go to the beach and the water park, lol.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 12:25 pm:

What a fun job! You'll never get bored, lol! Are you still doing cake decorating? You make the best cakes!

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 12:41 pm:

I still decorate, I was working at Wal-Mart until 2 weeks ago. I hurt my hand doing a wedding cake and now I have to wear a brace. They decided they didn't want to pay me to stand there and look stupid for 2 weeks so they didn't make me work my 2 week notice. Luckily the bus is an automatic so I don't have to worry about shifting. Thats another plus to being a sub is I can decorate out of my house when I'm not driving, I do better work at home anyways. I think I'm going to put my number out at the high schools and colleges for graduation so I can make money to buy season passes to the water park.

By Jackie on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 01:16 pm:

Thats such great news Kristie. Thats right, Va Beach has had its fair share of bus accidents in the last 12 months.

By Amecmom on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 01:35 pm:

Congratulations! That sounds like a great job.
Ame

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 01:47 pm:

Awesome! I'm sure you'll make great money doing cakes on the side! How are Alli and Josh doing? I can't believe it's been 2 years since we've seen each other! Oh how the time sure flies!

By Insaneusmcwife on Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 02:22 pm:

Yes, time does fly I'll have already been here 7 months next week. The kids are doing great. Josh is in 3rd grade just got promoted to PFC in the Young Marines. Alli is impatiently waiting to move so she can have a back yard again and can't wait to ride on the yellow bus. What does Kaitlyn think about you being pregnant. I can't imagine her walking and talking.