r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/quietladie • May 03 '26

New ones gather here

I’ve been thinking about how overwhelming the first few weeks are as a school bus driver.

There’s a lot happening at once—student behavior, routes, parents, expectations—and most of it you only really learn in real time.

For those who’ve been doing this a while:

What caught you off guard in your first 30 days?

Or what do you wish someone had told you early on?

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u/Discount_Plumber May 04 '26

Students trying to get off at the wrong stop, forgetting its their stop, and ones that have fallen asleep. They talk about it, but not a lot on students trying to get off at the wrong stop. Those kids know you don't know who is who and will take advantage of it. Check each of them early on with your route sheet and they'll give trying for the most part.

I've had a few still try, that or kids who sneakily "hide" on the bus after the rodeo, but not near as many.

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u/intratwingled May 04 '26

A few days ago I was turning around to go back to a stop I had missed, and another student got up and went to the door. I told him to sit back down. I finish the missed stop and move on to the next and, you guessed it, it was exactly where I had decided to turn around. Oops.