Schools receive their performance report cards once a year, but for Transportation Supervisor Arian Keeran, every day is report card day. Having 16 buses in good condition, enough qualified drivers and substitutes who enjoy serving students and families, and students who are respectful of the school’s equipment have all contributed to Van Buren’s transportation department earning high marks every day.
Buses are no different from every other mode of transportation: they need regular maintenance and to be replaced periodically. When it comes to the maintenance, bus mechanic Jarrod Mellott works relentlessly to follow oil change schedules, maintain air pressure to prevent tires from premature wear, and fix any engine, exhaust, suspension, or body problems which arise from the thousands of miles put on buses each month.
All of the focus on maintenance came to fruition on January 3rd and 17th when, across two Ohio Department of Transportation annual inspection sessions where every inch of the buses was inspected, our buses achieved a 100% passage rate.
Keeran stated what was already made clear by the outstanding results of the inspection: “Safety is our top priority. We take pride in the maintenance and operation of our district buses.”
All of the buses are also inspected during the summer to ensure they have been maintained and are ready for the start of the school year, but the winter inspection is more thorough, which emphasizes the work Keeran and Mellott put in throughout the year to maintain high safety standards.
Even with strong maintenance protocols, buses eventually need to be replaced. In December, the board of education purchased a new 78-passenger propane bus. One of the biggest factors in purchasing a propane bus (the district currently has gas, diesel, and propane models) is that the cost per mile to operate a propane bus is $0.45 cheaper than gas or diesel, and we also received a $25,000 rebate because a diesel bus was traded in to purchase the propane bus.
While purchasing a new bus is not cheap, Keeran has found that the maintenance savings outweigh the cost of pouring large amounts of money into an aging fleet struggling to pass inspections due to myriad problems. That also means that moving forward, the district is committed to putting resources toward purchasing new buses to ensure student safety. Keeran has already applied for an additional grant awarded during the 2025-2026 school year to receive another $25,000 rebate for the purchase of a future bus.
Finally, we want students and their families to have positive experiences with school transportation (to learn more about the impact our drivers have on our students and our need for new drivers, check out the Knight Insight titled “Be Memorable…Be a Bus Driver”). In an effort to help bus drivers and the aides who sometimes ride buses serve our students more effectively every day, Director of Student Services Bridgett Bunn met with district bus drivers last August to lead them through a training exploring the intersection between transportation and student services. The focus was on helping students with exceptionalities have positive experiences riding the bus, but the skills could be applied with all students.
“Bus drivers are some of the most important people in students’ school experiences. They make the first impression and set the tone for the school day for most of our students, and drivers also make the last impression on students before they tell their families how their days went. This training was meant to help all of our drivers feel valued, appreciated, and informed,” Bunn said.
Everyone in our transportation department plays a vital role in the success of our district, and we appreciate all they do to keep our district running from before sunrise to after sunset almost every day of the school year.
Interested in being a bus driver? Complete an application at bit.ly/VBemployment.
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