Wednesday, August 14, 2024
With millions of children across the country going back to school in the next few days, bus drivers are entrusted with picking up and dropping off students to their prospective campuses.
According to transportation officials at Gatesville ISD, there are approximately 23 bus routes that service the five local campuses and approximately 20 drivers.
Among those drivers is veteran driver Charolett Chambers who has been driving school buses for about 38 years, but only 15 years for Gatesville ISD.
In addition to driving buses along with her husband Weldon, she began her bus driving career in Blanket, Texas as well as teaching.
Following her retirement, Chambers just couldn’t slow down. Upon moving to central Texas, she began driving buses for Moody ISD where she had a bus route for seven years. Later, she began teaching a behavior class at Gatesville Intermediate School and, once again, began driving buses for the school district. “I first started driving Bus 7 and 9 together and now I’m on Bus 9, but half the kids I had on Bus 7 and half the kids on Bus 9 just joined together. I was on Bus 9 for a long time,” she said.
Today, her route encompasses River Oaks Drive, Old Straws Mill Road, and Old Fort Gates Road. “I probably cover about 20 miles,” she said
Chambers said that her day begins at 6:15 a.m. “We check in each morning and then do our pre-inspection of the bus and then between 6:15 and 6:30 we clock in and then go on our routes and return to the bus barn around 8 a.m. In the afternoon, we check in again at 3 p.m. and that’s when I go over to Gatesville Intermediate to pick up the students. I usually get back to the bus barn about 5:15 each afternoon,” she said.
She remarked, “I really have a good bus. All of my kids, I’ve had them so long, they know the rules and that’s the main thing. When you’re driving a bus, you set the rules – it’s just like teaching. You set the rules, the kids know what to expect, they know what they can get by with and what they can’t.” She said that most of the children who have been riding her bus stay with her through the 12th grade, so she really gets to know them.
“The only ones I have trouble with every year is the kindergarten students because this is the first year they’re riding the bus and they are not used to sitting in a vehicle without being strapped in, so they’re all over the bus,” she said.
She continued, “You’ve got to train them, to let them know, even though we don’t have seat belts, they have to stay in their seats. It’s the first time they don’t have their parents with them and the first time they don’t have seat belts.”
Chambers reflected that “Most of the kids are very good – they say good morning, goodbye, or see you later – they’re very nice.”
She said that her philosophy is, “It’s how you treat the students. If you respect them, then they are going to respect you. It’s just like teaching. If you want them to act a certain way, you let them know that these are the rules and be consistent with it.”
Chambers explained that there are seating assignments on each bus. “In the first two weeks, bus drivers start assigning seats. Usually, every year they know where they sit on the bus. On our buses, the first seats are kindergarten, the next ones are elementary, then intermediate, then junior high and high school is in the back. The students know where their areas are located.”
Asked if her job as a bus driver is rewarding, she said with a smile, “Oh, yes. You get to see how the kids change from year to year. Some of the little kids change and become respectable and nice kids. We really do have a lot of nice kids at this school. I love my job.”
GISD Superintendent Dr. Barrett Pollard had the following to say about Charolett Chambers: “Charolett and her husband, Weldon, have been tied to GISD for many years. Their children attended GISD schools, and they both worked for the district for many years. This shows the dedication and commitment Charolett and Weldon have for this community and our students. In 2021, Charolett missed 88 days of work battling COVID-19, which almost took her life. Miraculously, in January of 2022, Charolett returned to work as a GISD bus driver. This was another testament to her work ethic and loyalty to the students and families of Gatesville. She and Weldon are informal leaders in the transportation department, which is like a big family. I hope they both stay with GISD for many years to come.”
