KCSOS drivers excel at ‘Road-e-o’

roadeo2002: KCSOS drivers excel at ‘Road-e-o’ Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) bus drivers nearly accomplished a sweep at the March 16 Kern County California Association of School Transportation Officials (CASTO) Chapter 12 “road-e-o.” KCSOS drivers took the first four places among the top five drivers in the under 29-foot bus category. In order of finish they were: Darla Lee-McNeill - first; Tara Cook - second; Deanna Harvey - third and Melissa Hawley - fourth. Kern High School District’s Nancy Ceccone prevented the sweep by finishing fifth.

The road-e-o features no bulls, no horses, no dirt and especially no clowns. It’s called a roadeo because it features school buses from Kern, Fresno and San Luis Obispo counties. Instead of a silver buckle, drivers vie to bring the coveted perpetual team trophy back to their school district for a year.

After the day long competition at the KCSOS Transportation Service Center in Bakersfield, the trophy went to Greenfield Union School District whose winning drivers were Jennifer Johnson, Julie Johnson and Essa Hall.

Individual winners were Lee-McNeill in the under 29-foot category and Greenfield Union’s Eric Eisner in the over 29-foot category.

Unlike a cowboy rodeo, no reckless, free-styling maneuvers were allowed. Drivers had to maneuver their way through 10 events that tested their ability to negotiate obstacles and situations they might encounter everyday transporting children to and from school. Each event was worth 50 points.

Winners can compete at the Southern California Sectional on April 28 at Arcadia, Calif., to qualify for the May 27 California championship in Sacramento.

CASTO Chapter 12 Road-e-o Results

TEAM RESULTS:
 Kern County Team Champion - Greenfield Union School District
Out of County Team Champion - Student Transportation of America - San Luis Obispo Co.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:

Category B - Buses 28-feet and smaller
 1st - Darla Lee-McNeill - KCSOS
2nd - Tara Cook - KCSOS
3rd - Deanna Harvey - KCSOS
4th - Melissa Hawley - KCSOS
5th - Nancy Ceccone - Kern High School District

Category A - Buses 29-feet and larger
 1st - Eric Eisner - Greenfield Union
2nd - Essa Hall - Greenfield Union
3rd - Julie Johnson - Greenfield Union
4th - Jennifer Johnson - Greenfield Union
5th - Bill Needham - Rosedale Union

Out of county combined category (all size buses)
 1st - Les Johnson - Student Transportation of America (San Luis Obispo County)
2nd - Ray Barnett - Student Transportation of America
3rd - Jerry Sitton - Student Transportation of America
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