This week marks several celebrations for GCPS employees in our Transportation Department, including state and national School Bus Safety Week and Georgia School Bus Driver Appreciation Day.
The school bus is an important part of your student's day, and your child’s bus driver is a vital link between home and school. Our bus drivers are well-trained and dedicated professionals charged with the safe delivery of students between home and school, driving the district's 1,900+ buses more than 23.8 million miles each year.
Gwinnett is the third-largest transporter of students in the country. And we do that job well! We're proud (and not surprised) that GCPS' Transportation Department is considered one of the five best in the country by the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute.
Researchers say that a school bus is 13 times safer than any other form of transportation. Our transportation professionals are committed to a safe ride for our students and participate in more than 120 hours of initial training and more than 20 hours throughout the school year. In addition, each driver performs an Annual Driver Proficiency Test (ADPT) on the driving range to ensure that he or she is proficient at driving their school bus. From the nuts and bolts of handling a bus in all kinds of weather and traffic situations to behavior management and safe evacuations and first aid, our drivers learn it all.
“Our drivers and monitors are professionals in the pupil transportation industry,” says Don Moore, the district’s director of transportation. “With their extensive training, annual physicals, random drug testing, and yearly proficiency tests, our transportation team is second to none.”
We hope you'll take a moment to #ThankADriver (and the other transportation folks who provide support… from bus monitors and dispatchers to mechanics and trainers.) Through their dedication and professionalism, these professionals live up to their workplace motto… they make a difference in the life of a child every day.
Learn more about Transportation in Gwinnett and check out an important bus safety video and a guide to GCPS' school bus camera safety program.
#ThankADriver
#GCPSSafeRide
#PromiseGwinnett
#BelieveGCPS