Safe school bus drivers honored

safeDriversInside:
School bus drivers Pat Jackson (left) and Sheila Cazares share the honor of each driving 22 preventable accident free years with Kern County Superintendent of Schools Larry E. Reider and Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Tom Valos.

It says something about the quality of the program, when a school bus driver retires but then asks to comeback as a substitute. Joann Mulholland was recognized with a plaque after spending 15 years driving a school bus for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office. As Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Services Administrator Don Fowler presented Mulholland with the plaque at a Safe Driving Awards ceremony in Bakersfield's Harvey Auditorium on Aug. 25, he told her fellow drivers, "And Joanne has decided to come back as a substitute driver."

Mulholland is but one example of the dedication and care exhibited by the drivers who transport children for the superintendent of schools' Special Education Programs. Another is Sheila Cazares, who has been driving for Transportation Services ever since the superintendent of schools started up the operation, 23 years ago. In that time, she has gone 22 years and 1,035,929 miles without a preventable accident.

Each year the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which tests the school bus drivers, presents its Safe Driving Awards at the ceremony, honoring those that have gone at least 100,000 miles without a preventable accident. Officer Vaughan Cain, shook his head in amazement when it came time for him to award Cazares with her one million miles award.

"Do you know how many miles she has driven without an accident," Cain said. "It is the equivalent of driving 40 times around the world. And she didn't do it in perfect whether. She has had to transport children in snow, rain, dust storms and the thickest fog in Kern County. I only hope at the end of my career I can have that kind of record."

It is not easy being a bus driver. Carolyn Towery who received her one year pin,
symbolizing one year of driving a bus without a preventable accident, was all smiles and sighed as she received her pin from Kern County Superintendent of Schools Larry E. Reider, "I want to thank all the motorists who didn't hit me."

Fowler put the years of driving versus the mileage into perspective. "In some districts, the 100,000 mile awards are accumulated over at least a 10 year period of time, but not in this office," Fowler said. "With more than 8,000 square miles to cover in this county, some of our drivers cover 100,000 miles in five years or less."

Two other drivers, Jane Frando and Julia Hughes, were honored for the most years without a preventable accident, 23. They have driven their entire careers with the superintendent of schools without as much as scratching a fender.

"We treat minor accidents as seriously as major ones," Fowler said. "Last year our drivers were involved in 13 minor accidents, eight of them preventable, over a total of 2,016,170 miles. In those 13 accidents, none of the people in our buses, children, aides or drivers received the slightest injury and that is the important statistic."

During the ceremonies, 55 drivers were honored with either CHP 100,000 mile Safe Driving Certificates or Transportation Services' yearly Safe Driving Pins. Some received both.

Reider congratulated the recipients by telling them, "I added it up, and the drivers represented here today have spent a combined 559 years of service with this office. That's tremendous. Especially, when you consider our office educates 10,000 students, making us the fourth largest district in the county. For the miles of safety and caring each of you give our children, you are terrific. What you do every day goes largely unnoticed by the public and that proves how well you are doing your jobs."

Also present at the awards ceremony was Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Tom Valos and newly appointed Transportation Services Director Paul Linder.

2003-04 Safe Driving Award Recipients

CHP Safe Driving Certificates

100,000 Miles

  • Louise Burnett - 103,598
  • Ada Thomas - 117,531
  • Deanna Harvey - 124,075

200,000 Miles

  • Robyn Bolin - 239,118
  • Ken Hayen - 248,208

300,000 Miles

  • Roseann Rios Lopez - 332,126

400,000 Miles

  • Juanita Meza - 484,883

500,000 Miles

  • Pat Jackson - 556,822

700,000 Miles

  • Nancy Waldram - 730,794

1,000,000 Miles

  • Sheila Cazares - 1,035,929

Transportation Services Safe Driving Pins

1 Year

  • Ronnie Dixon
  • Sharon Fahmie
  • Sylvia Howell
  • Christy Johnson
  • Dorla Lee-McNeill
  • Isabel Marroquin
  • Jenene Shears
  • Carolyn Towery

2 Years

  • Diana Clancy
  • Rebecca Fabbri
  • Deanna Harvey
  • Ada Thomas

3 Years

  • Louise Burnett
  • Ketra Johnson

4 Years

  • Christine Chenoweth
  • Vera Fisher
  • Ken Hayen
  • Terry McCarthy
  • Karen Snyder

5 Years

  • Teresa Clark
  • Keisha Dean
  • Terri Gamble
  • Melissa Ramay
  • Stormi Raines
  • Terri Rocha
  • Trish Weedon
  • John Young

6 Years

  • Robyn Bolin
  • Elena Carrillo
  • Cathy Kochanski
  • Melanie Ogle
  • Darlene Wood

7 Years

  • Shirley Cooper
  • LaCresha Word

11 Years

  • Ramona Thomas

12 Years

  • Charlotte Gonzales
  • Robyrt Gridiron

15 Years

  • Becky Bowers
  • Tomi Etcheverry
  • David Register

16 Years

  • Sandy Barker

17 Years

  • Myra Payne

18 Years

  • Jodee Gilbert-Uhlman
  • Lori Pelster

19 Years

  • Judy Fike

20 Years

  • Nancy Waldram

21 Years

  • Julia Beverly
  • Carrie Boschini
  • Juanita Meza
  • Debra Sumlin

22 Years

  • Sheila Cazares
  • Pat Jackson

23 Years

  • Jane Frando
  • Julia Hughes

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