Cicero Kiwanis Hear from Heights’ Transportation Director, Assistant Director
Bus drivers and school transportation plays a critical role in the lives of students, parents, and the community. In fact, school bus drivers are the most highly trained, tested, and scrutinized drivers on the road, ensuring students arrive to and from school safely and on time.
Featured speakers at this past Saturday’s Cicero Kiwanis Club meeting enthusiastically and optimistically greeted their audience, despite it being 7:30 a.m. on a non-workday and they’re barely into the 2022-23 academic year. After all, scheduling Hamilton Heights’ buses, their drivers, aides (if needed) and routes amid a nationwide bus driver shortage could have these transportation directors frazzled and more than tired.
Yet Hamilton Heights Transportation Director Jaymie Wickstrom and Assistant Transportation Director Dave Hildebrand, happily—and proudly—shared a behind-the-scenes look at the school corporation’s transportation system.
From bus and student safety to route planning and maintenance, the two covered what it takes to transport district students. It takes planning, strategizing, ongoing communication with Heights’ personnel, parents, police, and highway departments to provide the roughly 1,200 bus riders safe and timely travel. Hamilton Heights’ busses cover about 940 miles daily to deliver passengers to their school or home destinations.
In addition to daily routes, drivers also cover athletic event trips, educational field trips, and other school activities- that’s a lot of time on the road.
Does Heights need bus drivers? Yes.
While Heights is faring better than many schools nationwide that have had to outsource busing, Heights could always use a few more at any given time. Wickstrom and Hildebrand want to get more drivers in training to be prepared for potential retiring drivers. Multiple drivers have been behind the wheel at Heights for 30-plus years. They are dedicated to the school and the students in their care.
But dedication alone does not get someone in the driver’s seat.
Potential bus drivers must take four test tests to get a permit, pass a CDL physical, participate in on-site training and take a class on school bus safety. Interested? For more information, contact Director Jaymie Wickstrom via phone at 317.984.8404 or email at jwickstrom@hhschuskies.org.
About the Cicero Kiwanis:
The Cicero Chapter of the Kiwanis International as a part of a non-profit global organization with members who are dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time. In the greater Cicero-area community, the Cicero Kiwanis provide scholarships to local high school students, support local schools through donations to various programs and manpower, provide food and assistance to local food pantries, support families and individuals in need or in crisis and help the community-at-large through donations to Riley’s Children’s Hospital. Weekly meetings begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays at the Red Bridge Community Park Building in Cicero.