PHOTOS: Pupil transportation in pictures — winter/spring 2015

The “big sky” in Big Sky, Montana, on this June afternoon included a spectacular rainbow, as seen above the bus loop at Big Sky School District #72. Ron Downer, the district’s facilities director and transportation supervisor, took the shot right outside his office door.

School buses and sky are aglow in this brilliant photo from Kayla Miller, safety and training supervisor at Durham School Services’ Iowa City, Iowa, location. Miller took the shot while conducting her nightly walk around the bus lot in November 2012.

Humble (Texas) Independent School District’s festive “float” took home a top honor in a local Christmas parade in December. Bus driver Nicole Pennetta (left) came up with the idea to enter the parade, and she organized efforts to adorn the bus with Christmas lights, reindeer antlers and other decorations. Another driver for the district, Karen Ferris, dressed as Mrs. Claus and drove the bus in the parade. The bus won the motor vehicle float category.

Spooky decorations as well as stop-arm safety messages were on display at Waterford USD’s “Trunk or Treat” exhibit. “Big spider eyes let people know we would be watching them!” says Suzanne Bauer, the district’s director of transportation.

In December, Waterford USD took part in a local Christmas light parade. The district’s brightly decorated bus won the award for “Most Animated.” Bauer notes that “our passengers were our animation!”

Here’s another Yuletide yellow bus. Southern Reynolds County R-II Schools in Ellington, Missouri, decked out this smiling school bus for the town’s annual Christmas parade. The team won first place, and Transportation Director Eddie Rains is reportedly already making plans for the next parade.

Stark trees and sky are reflected in the windshield of a school bus in this striking photo, shot by Wes Ramirez, lead technician at Mid-Columbia Bus Co.’s Forest Grove, Oregon, location.

More than 1,100 bus drivers and attendants at Houston Independent School District took part in a training program called “Safety Expo” in August. Hands-on activities included evacuating a bus on fire (as simulated by a smoke machine). To see more photos from the event, go here.

Here’s a striking shot of a pyrocumulus cloud formed by a fire east of Sacramento, California, in September. Martin Ward, CEO of Mid-Placer Public Schools Transportation Agency in Auburn, took the photo from the Mid-Placer bus yard, which was about 35 miles from the fire.

Staff members at Lamers Bus Lines’ terminal in Monroe, Wisconsin, donned pink attire in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Justin Harris-Raisbeck, school bus location manager, submitted the shot.

Maintenance professionals from across Texas gathered in San Marcos last summer for the Texas Association of School Bus Technicians’ annual competition. The event includes mechanical troubleshooting and school bus inspections. Pictured here is Ramiro Garcia of Houston Independent School District.

Here’s another seasonal Snapshots entry, this one from Halloween. Waterford (Calif.) Unified School District (USD) took part in a community “Trunk or Treat” event. Despite the rain, the transportation team handed out treats to kids and safety tips to parents.

Police officers in Salem, Oregon, stake out a school bus stop for illegal passers. Michael Shields, director of transportation and auxiliary services for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, says that the police have done a great job of identifying local spots that have high numbers of violators.