Safe rides are their business

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Julia Beverly’s driving record of 799,397 miles without a preventable accident ranks second among active KCSOS drivers and that had Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier smiling.

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Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier and Associate Superintendent Tom Valos joined in celebrating with Julia Beverly (2nd from left) and Jane Frando who combined have driven 53 years without a preventable accident.

When a school bus driver reaches the end of her career line, and she realizes that the 28 years she spent getting children to school without a single accident is over, it can be an emotional moment. Kern County Superintendent of Schools’ (KCSOS) bus driver Jane Frando broke down and cried after receiving her 28 year Safe Driving Pin and a standing ovation from her peers. It was a poignant moment at the end of the annual ceremony held at in the Sequoia Middle School auditorium on Aug. 19 to honor 64 KCSOS school bus drivers with awards for driving safely.

Frando, who is retiring in September, logged 682,804 miles in her long career with KCSOS without being involved in an accident. “I’m retiring Sept. 4, and it has been a pleasure working with all of you. You make me cry. I love you,” Frando said as she choked back tears.

Frando along with Julia Beverly, Julia Hughes, Pat Jackson-Shaw and Sheila Cazares are the last of the original charter drivers who started with KCSOS when it formed Transportation Services in 1981. All five received safe driving awards, although Cazares has retired and Hughes and Jackson-Shaw could not be there in person because of a job conflict — the transportation of special education children to school. Add the five drivers’ transportation records together and the result is staggering — 191 years of driving without an accident and a total of 4,593,071 miles.

As she received her 25 Year Safe Driving Pin from Kern County Superintendent of Schools Christine Lizardi Frazier, Beverly joked with her driver colleagues “I know you are wondering, ‘why just 25 years?’ I was talking on a cell phone. Just kidding.”

Seriously, Beverly has compiled quite an impressive safe driving record of her own. In fact, currently, she has logged 799,397miles without a preventable accident. Next to Hughes’ total of 988,861 miles, Beverly ranks second among active KCSOS drivers. But after Frando’s retirement remarks, Beverly could not stay serious saying, “To you young drivers, don’t get too happy. There are still three of us left, and we are not going anywhere soon.” Howls of laughter from the drivers ensued.

Long before Frando, Beverly and all the other drivers received their Safe Driving Pins, emblematic of each year they have driven without an accident, Transportation Services Director Paul Linder let them in on the good news statistics.

“Our accident ratio is 4.73 accidents per million miles, calculating all accidents, and 2.36 accidents per million miles, when calculating the preventable accidents. This is our lowest rate in five years,” Linder said.

This was the first opportunity for Frazier in her new job to personally thank the drivers and present them with the awards. She took the opportunity to convey her thanks for what they do.

“I’m thrilled to be your new superintendent, and I am so proud of you, and what you’ve worked really hard for,” Frazier said. “We know you take tremendous precautions transporting children to school, and represent us really well. Just knowing that the KCSOS name is on your bus makes us very proud.”

Besides the 64 drivers honored with Safe Driving Pins from KCSOS, 20 drivers received awards from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for every 100,000 miles they have driven without a preventable accident. These awards are important to the drivers, too, because to receive their licenses, they have to pass testing by the CHP.

KCSOS Safe Driving Pins
1 Year — Sherry Hodson, Ruth Murdock-Boykin, Nacole Gibson, Minerva Laurent, Diana Medrano, Cindy Brewster and Veronica McEvoy
2 Years — Lori Mateer, Terri Smith, Jessica Tuck and Damon Anglin
3 Years — Jon Moule, Marleny Reyes, Dianna Ervin, Dena Aldean and Daniel Beechly
4 Years — Teresa Coleman, Dana Yasin, Landon Langston, Susan Neufeld and LaShun Dickerson
5 Years — Lynda Graham, Melissa Martin, Connie Castruita and Dawn Robles
6 Years — Louise Burnett, Carolyn Towery, Ada Thomas, Ronnie Dixon and Jenene Shears
7 Years — Deanna Harvey and Rebecca Fabbri
8 Years — Amabeli Zuniga and Ken Hayen
9 Years — Vera Fisher
10 Years — John Young, Terri Rocha, Terri Gamble, Melissa Ramay, Teresa Clark, Keisha Dean and Stormi Raines
11 Years — Darlene Wood, Cathy Kochanski, Melanie Ogle and Robyn Bolin
12 Years — Shirley Wammock
13 Years — Linda Rodriguez
15 Years — Virginia Jones and Robyrt Gridiron
16 Years — Roseann Rios
17 Years — Charlotte Gonzales
20 Years — David Register, Tomi Etcheverry and Becky Bowers
22 Years — Myra Payne
23 Years — Judy Fike
25 Years — Julia Beverly
27 Years — Sheila Cazares and Pat Jackson-Shaw
28 Years — Jane Frando and Julia Hughes

CHP 100,000 Mile Award recipients
Nacole Gibson — 106,198
Jessica Tuck — 107,148
Dana Yasin — 107,351
Sherry Hodson — 108,069
Connie Castruita — 108,445
Ruth Murdock-Boykin — 109,606
Dianna Ervin — 110,943
Teresa Coleman — 112,391
Daniel Beechly — 116,130
Damon Anglin — 122,026
Terri Smith — 125,632
Ada Thomas — 228,794
Terri Gamble — 352,001
Teresa Clark — 353,662
Becky Bowers — 463,134
Robyn Bolin — 466,914
Darlene Wood — 472,453
Virginia Jones — 479,047
Ken Hayen — 563,676
Jane Frando — 682,804
Julia Beverly — 799,397


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