Bus driver steers students in the right direction

by Elysia Conner
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:19 PM MDT

Natrona County School District bus driver Tim Moreno stays busy, whether it is driving busloads of students to Denver International Airport or just listening to kids telling him about their day at school.

He never gets bored with his job, he said while checking the oil and performing the safety checks he makes on the bus before each trip.

As an activities driver who also has a regular route, he interacts with students in all school programs. Moreno enjoys seeing the talents displayed at tournaments, artistic events and academic competitions.

For seven years, he has taken students to and from school, field trips and out-of-town activities. He has driven in all kinds of traffic and weather conditions, and always has dropped the children off safe and sound at their stops.

Safety and students' well-being are always on his mind. On his regular route on May 10, Moreno commented that he wished some intersections were safer. He never let the students out of his sight until they made it across the street at the bus stop.

"Maybe it's because I'm a parent," Moreno said, while describing the sense of responsibility he has for the students who ride his bus.

He makes sure they are dressed properly for weather, and that they wear hats and sunscreen if they are going to be outside on sunny days. Moreno also encourages them to drink plenty of water on hot days.

He has had some of the same kids on his bus for seven years, and watched them grow from small children into young adults.

Interacting with the kids

"Hey, twice in one week; good job, Tim," said Ryan Dalton while boarding the bus after school at Dean Morgan.

Moreno had been driving for activities for a few weeks, so his regular riders had not seen him much lately.

When asked to talk about their bus driver, his regulars did not hesitate to name some unique habits.

"He reads a lot," said sixth-grader Jordan. She also said he listens to some "boring radio shows, about being debt free."

"You might learn something from it," Moreno said, explaining that he sometimes sets the station to Dave Ramsey, a financial advice radio show.

The driver and a group of students have what he calls a "book club." They recommend books to one another and talk about what they have read.

Moreno and another student share a common interest in flying airplanes. The student is studying to be a pilot, and Moreno grew up as an "Air Force brat" and also plans to someday pursue flying.

Alex Long, an eighth-grader from Casper Classical Academy, has been one of Moreno's riders for two years.

"He's great," Long said. "I love him for a bus driver."

Safety is serious business

Moreno is a former truck driver who worked for Swift for six years and as a technical trainer for Sage for seven years.

He became a bus driver so he could spend more time with his wife and daughter. Instead of being on the road for weeks at a time, his longest trips are now just a few days.

He also can take time off for special occasions. He planned to take the following weekend off to celebrate his daughter's sixth birthday and watch her perform in a dance recital.

Moreno loves his job, and is happy with his employers. He plans to drive school buses for many years to come.

He noted that it feels very different to transport children rather than cargo.

"You have lives in your hands," he said.

According to Moreno, the NCSD bus drivers must have a class B commercial driver's license with a passenger endorsement and undergo full background checks.

They also receive regular training, including participating in an annual Bus Roadeo, a three-day, statewide event in which drivers refresh their knowledge and compete in driving skills and safety knowledge tests.

School bus drivers must be attentive and keenly observant at all times to drive safely and keep an eye on what is going on inside the bus.

"Sit in your seats, and keep your hands to yourselves!" he said over the microphone while driving up Casper Mountain Road after some students started to get a little too rowdy on the Friday afternoon.

While he likes to joke around with the riders, Moreno takes safety very seriously. He will not tolerate certain things on his bus, and especially dislikes bullying, bad language and unsafe behavior.

His job goes beyond simply getting students safely to their destinations. He finds himself looking after students and lending an ear to those who need someone to listen to them.

Occasionally, he even gives advice if someone asks him or if he thinks a student might be making a poor decision.

Moreno said that every year, a situation arises in which younger students board the bus, but don't know where their stop is. He said an alarming number of them do not know their own addresses or phone numbers.

He can sort it out with a few phone calls to find out where to drop them off, but worries about kids not knowing that kind of information.

A day in the life of a school bus driver is rarely a dull one. Moreno is one of many NCSD drivers who carry children through all kinds of weather and traffic conditions.

They maintain order and safety inside the bus while driving along city streets and highways across the region. They typically transport more than 150 students and travel at least 150 miles each day on regular in-town routes.

But their jobs go much further than that in the way they care about each student who gets on the bus.

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