“I’m here (at work) everyday by 5 a.m.,” said Scott Bettinger, who has worked for the department for the last eight years. “I usually get a good idea of how my day is going to go pretty early in the morning.”

Lately, Bettinger, a master maintenance mechanic, has had other responsibilities besides servicing buses.

“Sometimes we have bus drivers that call in sick or aren’t available, and they ask me to help drive,” Bettinger said. “Different things seem to happen everyday - I guess it’s just like any other full-time job, except people don’t understand the schedule.”

Parents in the TISD rely on Bettinger, a Temple High grad, and his co-workers everyday to get their children to-and-from school, as well as fine arts, academic and sporting events.

The TISD transportation department has 53 drivers and four mechanics who transport students on 49 different routes per day. Buses transport TISD students about 600,000 route miles every year.

“I’m always here doing something. Whether it’s installing new parts on buses over the summer, or making emergency repairs,” Bettinger said.

He is supplied with a two-way cellular phone through the school district, and is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When a bus breaks down on Friday night after a football game, it’s Bettinger who is going to the scene.

“I’ve had times where I’ve been out doing things and have gotten called in for repairs,” he said. “I’ve been out on the lake fishing, and gotten a phone call telling me a bus has broken down. I’ve driven all over the place. I’ve had to go down to San Antonio to service a bus.”

Sometimes it’s like having two jobs in one, he said.

“I’m a bus driver in the morning, and a mechanic by noon,” Bettinger said. “I do whatever I’m asked.”

The school district has four mechanics including Bettinger who work separate shifts. Bettinger, and TISD shop foreman James Horton work the earliest shift, while the two other mechanics come in and work from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. But their schedules are never what they seem.

“I don’t think people realize the work we do,” Horton said. “My phone sits by my side 24 hours a day. If I’m asked to do something, I run out and do it.”

The transportation department has multiple positions, and just like the vehicles they maintain, they work as a well-oiled machine.

During a typical school day, when the first set of mechanics arrive in the morning, they check buses out that may need minor repairs that can be done before the first fleet of buses leave to pick up students.

Shortly after the mechanics arrive, dispatchers, like Lovie McDonald, arrive at about 6 a.m.

“The first thing I do is check our voicemail system to see if we have any drivers who’ve called in,” Ms. McDonald said. After the morning dispatcher arrives, drivers begin to come in.

“We have a big board, where the drivers keep their bus keys,” Ms. McDonald said. “I take a look at that and look for keys that haven’t been picked up. If they haven’t been picked up, that’s when I start looking for someone else to drive, like a mechanic or another worker here.”

Driver Carme Tindal has worked for TISD for eight years. She wakes up at 5 every morning.

“The mornings are pretty laid back,” said Ms. Tindal, who clocks in at 6:15 a.m. “The first thing I do is go through a basic check of the bus. I check the breaks and the lights, things like that.”

The first sets of buses begin to leave for their routes shortly before 7 a.m.

“That’s when I usually start hearing things,” Ms. McDonald said. “I’ll start getting calls from parents asking where their bus is, or drivers who are stuck in traffic and are running behind.

“That’s also when I start hearing about possible fights, or maybe a student who is ill and needs to see a nurse,” she said.

“Things can become pretty chaotic,” Ms. McDonald said. “You always have to stay on your P’s and Q’s.”

Ms. Tindal drives routes for students of the Dickson Childhood Center, Jefferson Elementary, Lamar Middle School and the high school.

“One you start driving, every day can bring on a different situation,” she said.

Like most drivers making their morning commutes, Ms. Tindal experiences the pain of traffic, construction and bad weather.

“Traffic and construction are always problems,” she said. “Sometimes it can throw your timing a little bit off, and it’s easy to become irritated.”

Besides the drivers on the road, Ms. Tindal has to deal with student discipline on the bus. Drivers are required to write up students who misbehave and turn slips over to the department, which are then sent to campus principals.

“It’s a pretty big responsibility,” she said. “You have to keep your eyes on the road and on the kids.”

All of the mechanics and drivers in the school district are certified in their area of work.

Ms. Tindal also is certified in CPR.

“I always tell people who think driving a bus is easy to sit in a room of 60 kids with your back to them,” said Walter Prothro, TISD’s transportation director.

Do that, and try to picture yourself driving a big vehicle, he said.

“These are unsung jobs,” said Prothro, who added the district has actively been trying to hire qualified drivers. “Our drivers and transportation workers are working no matter what the weather or circumstance is.”

TISD has a $2.4 million transportation budget slotted for the 2008-09 year. Prothro said funding has remained steady at the state level since the 1980s, as transportation funds are provided per-student basis, which does not take into account rising costs for inflation, including fuel and bus parts.

Because of budget restrictions, TISD can only offer bus drivers a starting salary of about $9 an hour, and employees them on a part-time basis. Prothro mentioned mechanics also could make significantly more money working at a private job.

“Things are tough right now across the board. That’s why we appreciate the workers we have here so much,” he said. “You’re not going to find a more dedicated group of people working for a school district than you’ll find working in their transportation department.”

A lot of the workers take mid-day breaks, so they can work the afternoon shift, or work events at night.

Because of his dedication to his job, this summer Bettinger was named the 2008 recipient of the Texas Association of School Bus Technicians “Technician of the Year.” Prothro nominated him.

“I was pretty shocked when I found out,” Bettinger said. “It’s pretty neat when you consider the number of districts in the state.”