AFT members among winners of international competition for bus drivers

Most city dwellers have faced the challenge of trying to parallel park in a tight space. Now imagine driving a full-size school bus and parallel parking it without hitting the curb or any barriers front and back—and ending up fewer than 18 inches from the curb.

That’s just one of many tests of driving skills that school bus drivers from around the country compete in each year in what are commonly called bus “roadeos.” Known more formally as the International Safety Competition, and sponsored by the National School Transportation Association, the king of all roadeos is held each summer in conjunction with the association’s annual convention.

In 2004, as in every year, AFT members were well represented among the top finishers. Among the winners from the AFT’s PSRP ranks this year:

Small bus: Anne Woodring, 5th place, Nevada Classified School Employees Association, Washoe County chapter.

Conventional bus: Michael Rusnak, 23rd place, Orange (Fla.) Educational Support Personnel Association; Serena Yansak, 29th place,  Pittsfield (Mass.) Federation of Teachers; and Tina Nickles, 33rd place, Nevada Classified School Employees Association, Churchill County chapter.

In addition to driving tests, which also include precision steering, backing and negotiating through and around various other tight spaces, the competition includes written tests covering vehicle inspection procedures and general knowledge.

“Even though there are other drivers, I feel as if I’m really out there competing against myself,” says Woodring. “And it’s fun to do.”

Woodring and her Nevada colleague Nickles have been driving buses and competing in roadeos for longer than most high school kids have even been alive. Now in her 36th year as a driver, Nickles entered her first competition in 1975. “I got into it to see how good a driver I was,” she says. “I found out that I had a knack for it, and I just kept doing it.” Woodring is a 25-year veteran driver who started competing about 10 years after Nickles. Interestingly, the best national finish for both of them over the years has been second place.

Even though the drivers know what the courses and events will be like, at competitions outside their local district they never know exactly what kind of bus will be used in the competition. “That can be very challenging,” Woodring notes. “Every school and every school district uses different kinds of buses.” In the small bus category (typically special education buses), for example, her Nevada district uses vehicles that are essentially small school buses. At last year’s competition, however, the buses they drove were more like vans with a school bus body. “It was very different,” she recalls.

Besides testing their skills, the drivers enjoy seeing familiar faces each year at the competitions, which are held at the local, regional and state levels, as well as the international finals. “You get to meet a lot of bus drivers from all over the U.S. and Canada, and that’s a great thing,” Nickles says. And yes, she adds, they do talk about bus driving in addition to catching up with each other’s lives.

Woodring sees the roadeos as a positive way to show the public her dedication to being the best possible driver behind the wheel. “School bus drivers don’t always get recognition for the good things they do,” she says. “When people hear about us in the media, it’s always negative stuff.”

Just let them try to parallel park one of those buses and see how it goes.