The Statewide NC Love the Bus Week for 2022 is February 14-18.

Dr. Thomasine Hassell is quoted as saying “Bus drivers are often the first and last district employees to see our students every day!”

Covid has undoubtedly changed the look of safely transporting our most precious cargo. As we aim to have face-to-face instruction for our staff and students, bus drivers have been given more responsibility for keeping our students and staff in school. Although our buses continue to roll, our drivers have been subject to quarantine protocol and exposed to the Covid virus. Schools have had to be creative to keep the buses moving by:

1. Doing double runs (other drivers taking on additional routes).
2. Teacher’s assistants leaving their school to drive for another school in the system. 
3. And teachers who hold a CDL are asked to drive a bus to get students to school.

To top it off, drivers who work in the classroom are being tasked with additional responsibilities such as: 

1.  cleaning and sanitizing the bus and the classroom,
2.  substitute teaching, 
3.  covering teacher’s classroom when teachers are planning instruction. 

Through the enormous professional and personal family responsibilities it is amazing the drivers listed below have maintained perfect attendance from August 23, 2021 through December 21, 2021.

                                             East Area Drivers

W. J. Gurganus Elementary                                                      Brinson Elementary

Mindy Berkery, Heather Gardner, Mary Wallen                    Lonzenia Kinsey

Havelock High School                                                          Creekside Elementary

David Deitz, Carol Hill, Tabitha Tyndall                               Sandra Perry, Birgitta Snyder            

                                         New Bern Area Drivers                                      

A.H Bangert Elementary                                                     Oaks Road Academy

Evelyn Carmon, Erin Moody                                                 Clarissa Quinn, Rebecca Wright

New Bern High School                                                         Aspire

Anita Hardy, Crystal Jackson, Glorius Moore                       Anthony Keys
Tyrone Parker, Tammy Potterfield

                                                    West Area Drivers

Bridgeton Elementary                                                          JW Smith Elementary

Angela Coward Brunson                                                        Quanda Dobson

Vanceboro Farm Life Elementary                                      West Craven Middle Schools

Felicia Anderson, Marquetta Coward                                    Debra Coward, Natasha Hardy, Jeffery Perkins

West Craven High School

Carol Bobbitt, Donna Holfelder, Carolyn Whitfield

“We truly appreciate and recognize what all of our bus drivers do on a daily basis to safely transport students to and from school,” said Dr. Thomasine Hassell, Director of Transportation. If you haven’t already recognized your child’s bus driver, please do so. It is not too late. Let’s show them all how much we appreciate them for going the extra mile!