More than just a ride to school

BRUNSWICK — Most children who go to school ride the bus at some point. Whether it is for sports or getting a ride to school, most kids just get on the bus, off the bus, and they don't think much more of it. However, what they don't know is that there is a lot of planning and effort that goes into getting them to school. Planning the routes takes quite a long time, and is actually a careful process. "When I create a bus route, I look at a number of things like safety, distance from the school, and the time it would take to complete the route," said Gregg Pollock, the transportation coordinator for Brunswick City Schools District. Pollock's job is to construct all of the bus routes for the district. He does most of the scheduling in the months of May and June, but essentially the planning is ongoing. The BCSD Transportation Department is a much larger operation than many people realize. The department has about 80 vehicles which includes the regular route buses, the spare buses, and the passenger vans. The vans are used for smaller sports teams. With 29,570 total daily miles from public, non-public, and special education buses, the BCSD Transportation Department travels about 5 million miles a year. Pollock really enjoys his job in the business. "Driving a bus with about 40 kids on it can cause a lot of stress for the drivers, so I just like to help them help themselves," Pollock said. The BCSD uses Verstrans, which is a routing and planning program through the company Tyler Technologies. The company also provides the Verstrans Visit My Stop App. The app allows for real-time tracking so you can see where the bus is, how many minutes away it is, and even what time the bus is estimated to arrive. It will also send an alert if the bus will be late or if there are any changes regarding your bus. With the existing bus driver shortage affecting the ability to take kids home on time, the Versatrans Visit My Stop App has made sure to let the parents know when the children will be late. The Transportation Department's top priority is making sure that all students get to school safely and on time. "Our drivers have the opportunity every day to make a positive difference in the lives of our students," said Pollock. "And they take that very seriously." Chloe Stevens, a sixth-grade Brunswick Middle School, is one of over fifty student "backpack journalists" (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program is sponsored by Scene75 (www.scene75.com), Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, Baskets Galore, Medina County Women's Endowment Fund, Medina County Community Fund, Brunswick University Center, Brunswick Eagles 3505, 100+ Women Who Care Medina, and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to https://www.bcsoh.org/domain/1154 to learn more about the Program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com to view videos produced by the students.