Pupil transporters captured these very unusual spring and summer seasons, sharing images of meal delivery wearing masks, adapting to social distancing, and sending shout-outs and saying goodbye to students.
PHOTOS: Pupil Transportation in Pictures - Spring/Summer
The Calvert County (Md.) Public Schools transportation department held a socially-distanced meeting on July 6 in an empty school cafeteria with bus drivers, assistants, and mechanics to discuss COVID-19 safety protocols for summer bus routes. Ed Cassidy, the director of transportation, who took the photo, told School Bus Fleet that the district began running routes for its extended school year and elementary summer school in mid-July.
Photo courtesy Ed Cassidy
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic had Suzanne Bauer, the director of transportation for Waterford (Calif.) Unified School District, missing her students, but enjoying some more time playing with Legos with her grandson. And those toy students are lined up properly for their bus, of course.
Photo courtesy Suzanne Bauer
San Antonio (Texas) Independent School District is well-prepared for social distancing on the school bus. Nathan Graf, senior executive director of transportation and vehicle maintenance for the district, shared this image of the interior of one of the district’s buses.
Photo courtesy Nathan Graf
Many school districts deployed drivers, armed with protective gear, for delivery service to keep kids in need fed. Seman-Tov Bus Co. in Neptune, N.J., was no different. The contractor had about 10 buses handling food delivery for the Lakewood Board of Education, Judah Nagar, Seman-Tov’s fleet manager, told School Bus Fleet.
Photo courtesy Judah Nagar
Lorri Smith, the transportation director of East Valley School District Transportation in Spokane Valley, Wash., sent this photo of some of her district’s school buses, which drivers moved to form “2020” to commemorate the high school’s graduating seniors.
“This was a small token from the transportation department to honor our seniors. Our local newspaper, the Spokesman-Review, took photos and it has been on several different social media platforms and shared like wildfire,” Smith told SBF. “It's so humbling to know that a small token such as this is so appreciated by students, staff, and the community as a whole!
Photo courtesy Lorri Smith
Courtney Portner and her 10-year-old twins Audrey and Sully (shown here) started creating chalk drawings in April of things that they miss while being in quarantine, such as “school field trips with classmates,” as Portner says in an Instagram post that included this photo she took of the drawing. (You can find the whole series of drawings on DailyDoseofChalk on Instagram.)
“It’s a nice way to remember the people and events that we really enjoy and hope that are part of our lives again soon,” Portner told School Bus Fleet."
Photo courtesy Courtney Portner
Ed Norton, the transportation director for Blue Eye (Mo.) School District, captured this photo of the district’s bus yard at sunset.
Photo courtesy Ed Norton