HELENA — Gary Herseim will begin his 10th year of bus driving this upcoming school year. After retiring from long-haul truck driving, Herseim applied to be a bus driver. He says the kids’ safety is his number one priority and keeps him coming back year after year
“Working with the kids and some of them can be real goofballs so you never know what to expect. And the safety issue of it. I believe in the safety of the kid, for the kids and so therefore I help train new drivers and stress that all the time,” says Herseim.
First Student, the school bus service that shuttles Helena Public School students, is hiring part-time 20-hours-per-week bus drivers starting at $26.25 per hour.
Herseim says that while drivers can double up on schedules or consolidate routes when employees are low, having more drivers does more than just getting kids to school.
“We need drivers. I can't seem to stress that enough, you know. Because we are such a niche operation, we gotta be able to get those kids to school. And without it, it's going to fall back on the parents and then it's going to fall back on the parents’ employers because now they're juggling their schedules to be able to get the kids to school. So, it's really important to the community,” says Herseim.
For those interested in getting an idea of what driving a bus feels like, this upcoming Saturday at the fairgrounds they are hosting a Big Bus, No Big Deal event from 11 to 3 where the public can try driving a bus on a closed course.
Dan Redford, Location Safety Manager at First Student says that getting these kids to school is essential for their futures.
“So, if we don't have the bus drivers it's very difficult to get these kids to school. And that's a very important aspect in children's lives is their education,” says Redford.
Next Wednesday, they are doing another hiring event from 10 to 3 at First Student’s headquarters in Helena. First Student trains new bus drivers to get their CDL. They offer a bonus check to help pay for the training.
