Bus drivers are truly appreciated by all schools and parents alike. At Lanesboro School, you might even say they are treasured! According to Superintendent Matt Schultz, maintaining their own buses has long been a priority. Lanesboro School has a large segment of open enrolled students; buses travel all over the county picking up and delivering students each day. If the school were to outsource busing, it would lose control of it. Currently, if a new student enrolls in the district, bus routes can be changed mid-year to accommodate busing that student; the district does what it has to do to retain control of busing; it is essential to obtaining and retaining open enrollment students. The school tries to stay competitive with other schools and bus drivers with its pay rate.
“We’ve got a great transportation director in Chad Wangen!” Superintendent Schultz declared. “We couldn’t do it without him!”
Wangen commented that it’s challenging right now at Lanesboro just as at any other school; drivers are in short supply.
Chad Wangen begins his day at 5:30 a.m., heading to the bus garage to check that the buses are ready. Occasionally he finds a flat tire or a bus that won’t start that he needs to deal with. He leaves for his morning bus route at 6:40 a.m. and drops his students at the school at 7:55 a.m. From 11 a.m. until noon he drives the preschool route; at 2:55 p.m. he heads out for his afterschool route. Chad stays at the bus garage until the last driver is in – usually between 4:10 and 4;30 p.m. In the time between routes, he takes care of oil changes and day-to-day maintenance. Chad readily admits he’s not a mechanic; Eric Overland, the previous transportation director, takes care of some maintenance. For tougher repairs the buses are sent to Chatfield or Rochester.
Wangen considers setting up the bus routes each year to be one of the most challenging aspects of his job. One of the routes covers 106 miles each day. Lanesboro has six bus routes and three van routes daily.
Chad had never really considered driving a bus until his mother-in-law, a secretary at Lanesboro at the time, called him at the bar he owned in Wykoff and asked him to consider it. His response—“I guess I can.”
From 1998 to 2000, Chad subbed as a driver; in 2000, he took a full-time route. After learning a lot from the then transportation director Eric Overland, Chad became the new director at Overland’s retirement in 2015. As the director, Chad needs to deal with the DOT and takes assorted classes.
Last Thursday, all 10 of the buses that the school owns were out on either regular routes or activities. In order to cover the need for bus drivers, Lanesboro has gotten creative. Both Superintendent Schultz and Elementary Principal James Semmen as well as math teacher, Joe Cullen, have gotten their bus licenses. Semmen and Cullen often do double duty as bus drivers for the sports they coach.
Wangen admits he has gone through the phone book looking for potential drivers. He boasts that he has “a very good crew – right down to the subs!”
Long-time driver, Jim Iverson, got his bus license in the early ‘80s and has been driving full-time since 1990. He’d bought a saloon in Lanesboro and needed the extra cash driving brought in. Although he sold the saloon 10 years ago, he still works at the saloon and still enjoys driving bus. “It worked out really good for me,” Iverson declared.
Jim Schott was already head custodian at the school when he learned the school really needed more drivers. He went and got his license to help out. Although it’s hard when he should be in two places at once, Schott makes it work to drive his 53-mile Highland route each morning and afternoon.
Anthony Schwartz, who works at Hebl Cleaning and Restoration, manages to work around his job and is in his first year of driving a van for the school.
Jeff Schwichtenberg, part owner of S & A Petroleum, subs as a driver. As a sub, he has to know all the routes; he thanked the regular drivers for sharing all the pertinent information about the routes.
Ross Kramer, a farmer west of Fountain, said one of the reasons he was driving bus was to pay it forward and honor the bus drivers he had as a student at Wykoff. In particular, he remembers the kindness of driver Ernie Peterson who put his sister Maureen on and off the bus each day. Maureen, who had spina bifida, was in a wheelchair; Ernie went above and beyond to help her. Now years later, coincidentally, Ross is driving bus for two of Erine’s great-grandchildren! Kramer commented that he feels humble and proud to be part of the “fraternity” who drive buses.
Self-employed carpenter Mike Kimball started driving in 2001 for the health insurance benefits; now even though the benefits no longer come with the job, Kimball still drives bus. He enjoyed driving bus to his kids’ games and now gets to watch his grandkids’ games. Kimball humbly chuckled, “I’m doing my community duty.”
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