Hollering kids. After-school foot traffic. Car-filled streets. These are some of the many distractions that our school bus drivers must manage while getting us to school safely and on time. In an interview with four of Haldane’s bus drivers, the thoughts and experiences of these often underappreciated workers were revealed.
Brian Brutting is the driver of Yellow Bus this year. Before Yellow, Brutting was a van driver doing out-of-district runs for Haldane, with 17 years of experience from Garrison driving a caravan and sports bus under his belt. For him, the most challenging part isn’t when the elementary kids are hyped up on energy– it’s when they’re not paying attention. “My last little kid, I have to move to the front because he falls asleep,” Brutting said. “He’s on the very end of the north side, so he’s on the bus for an hour.” Green Bus driver Sebastian Gomez agreed. “You stop, they don’t get off, they’re asleep…” It can hold up the bus, but the drivers are sympathetic. “He’s tired, he’s young,” Brutting continued. “So I said, ‘You gotta move to the front because one day, I’m going to drive right by your house!'”
There is the added difficulty of remembering addresses. With inconsistent passengers, Brutting has learned to ask every student as they get on the bus for their address, even the ones he has already memorized. “Now what I’m doing is that I have the little kids call the addresses out on the littles’ run,” Brutting explained. “‘Let everyone know the next stop is 33!’ And they do that, and it works out just great.”
However, there still can be issues. Bus drivers are given a list of names and addresses, but these lists are sometimes outdated, incorrect, or missing students. This can make it difficult for drivers, especially when younger kids aren’t sure where they live. “The kindergarteners don’t know their addresses,” Brutting said. On the very first day of school, Brutting had a little girl who had no idea where she lived…and, as it turned out, she had gotten on the wrong bus entirely. Everything worked out, and Brutting was able to get her home safely. “But she didn’t know the name of the road she lived on, and she didn’t know her address,” Brutting said. “So it was difficult to bring her home.”
Paul DiPietro is the driver of Blue Bus and has been a bus driver for 15 years, spending four at Haldane. He finds adults’ road habits to be a challenge of the job. “I’m up at four [in the morning],” DiPietro explained, “I’m on all of route nine. It’s challenging because of people who don’t like to follow the rules of the road. They don’t stop for my reds; they keep running them constantly.” Head Day Cleaner and former Black Bus driver Paula Pajuelo also stated that adults need to be more aware of school buses on the road. “Sometimes, [other drivers] don’t respect us in passing…they think that we can brake like a regular car,” she explained. Because buses are longer, taller, and wider than cars, bus drivers must be aware of their surroundings and require extra time to bring the large vehicle to a halt.
“You really have to be cautious, as a driver, when to apply the brakes and how hard,” Brutting noted. This, he said, is why bus drivers are so concerned with safety. “If those kids are standing in the aisle or they’re changing seats or doing stuff they’re not supposed to, they can get hurt. So if they stay in their seats and converse in a regular inside voice, it would be easier for the bus driver to concentrate.
“[Students] don’t understand that we do things for safety…even parents,” Pajuelo added. “We’re not mean; we’re just trying to bring everybody safely home.”
Bus drivers have a unique position in the school and build bonds with their passengers, further supporting safety. They pay attention; they know who is friends with who, what books each kid likes, and which character is a student’s favorite. “I know all the kids,” DiPietro stated. Brutting is aware of how important this bond between driver and passenger is. “Communication is great because when you communicate, they don’t feel threatened,” he explained. Students, especially those in elementary school, may feel wary of being driven around by an adult they don’t know. This is why bus drivers take measures to ensure their passengers feel as safe as possible.
Part of ensuring safety is looking out for bullying, a job the drivers take seriously. “I have [seen it]. A lot,” Pejuelo stated, “My first step is to separate everybody, and bring [the bullied student] close to me, and keep my eye on them.” By separating the bully from the victim, Pejuelo can keep the victim safe.
“You have to nip it in the bud; that’s what I do,” DiPietro said. He explained that he talks with the bully and quickly shuts down their bad behavior. After witnessing an instance of bullying, Brutting said that bus drivers report it to their supervisor so that the school can step in.
While student passengers may not be fully aware of all that goes into being a bus driver, they recognize the compassion and care that their drivers demonstrate and express their immense gratitude and admiration for the hard work of these individuals.
Junior Arthur Owens, a passenger on the Yellow bus, had words of gratitude to share. “I just want to say that I appreciate bus drivers’ hard work,” Owens stated. “I love my bus drivers. I loved Rich. And [Brutting] has always been really nice.” Owens added that Brutting noticed and commented on the pumpkins in the front of his house. Drivers pay attention!
Alexa Arcigal, a Sophomore, says Green Bus driver Sebastian Gomez is “literally the chillest dude on earth…. the G.O.A.T. [Greatest of All Time] of bus drivers.” Arcigal reports that when her brother Nicky held a yard sale so that he could buy himself a vintage game console, Gomez came by to buy something. “It was super nice of him… It was just a super nice thing for him to do.”
Senior Louis Ferreira, a Black Bus passenger, says he has had three bus drivers in his lifetime and has great respect for drivers. “They’re reliable,” Ferreira stated, “Getting up early and running by tiring routes, dealing with rowdy kids, handling harsh equipment. They’re a determined group of fellows I admire for their service, and I always try to issue a genuine thanks when I leave the bus that they drive so safely.”
Haldane’s current school bus drivers are Paul DiPietro, Brian Brutting, Anna Bocchino, Sebastian Gomez, Evan Carlos, and John Serwatka. Paula Pajuelo and Tenny Gunter are this year’s substitute drivers. In addition, other hard-working employees drive Haldane cars, vans, and buses for out-of-district errands. For every driver’s service, past and present, the Haldane student body thanks them.
Henry Foley-Hedlund contributed reporting.
