Aroostook County school bus drivers attend regional safety conference
FORT KENT, Maine — Nearly 100 bus drivers from across Aroostook County participated in a Regional Safety Conference, which Maine School Administrative District No. 27 hosted Friday, June 24, 2016.
“We want our drivers to be as safe as possible,” said Peter Saucier, MSAD 27 transportation supervisor. “We carry the most precious cargo.”
According to Saucier, the district has hosted this regional event, one of six taking place this year, for the last five years.
The Maine Association of Pupil Transportation, in collaboration with the Maine Department of Education, organizes the local conferences as a way to provide drivers with continuing education and training.
Each conference offers classroom modules covering topics such as student behavior and communication, updates on traffic laws and regulations, working with special needs students, and safety.
The conference also includes a friendly driving skills competition.
“We have about 60 drivers taking part in the skills event today,” Saucier said Friday. “It doesn’t affect their licenses, but it’s a fun way to keep up their skills and challenge them.”
“It was fun,” agreed MSAD 27 driver Mark Pelletier of Fort Kent, following his run through the course. “I didn’t do too bad. Not as good as I wanted, but not too bad.”
“The hard part is not being able to stop and start over,” said MSAD 27 driver Laurelie Belanger Wilson of St. David.
The top three finishers at each of the six regional skills competitions are eligible to go to a statewide competition, which will take place in July at Sugarloaf. Team awards are also given at each regional event.
Austin Dufour, a bus driver with MSAD 20, was among those looking to qualify.
“I’m winning,” Dufour said with a smile as he waited to take the wheel. He said he has earned a spot in the past for the statewide event.
In the end, it was Fort Kent’s Dave Pelletier, who drives for MSAD 33, who took first place in the conventional category. Brian Pelletier, a driver with RSU 39 in Caribou, took the top spot in the larger transit bus group.
The skills course, which encircled Fort Kent Elementary School, consisted of six elements. Judges score each driver by how many mistakes he or she makes at each element.
Drivers must maneuver the large buses through narrow lanes of traffic cones, drive through tight turns, and park within a certain number of inches of a curb.
A pre-trip safety inspection is also part of the skills competition.
“The most important part of this is student safety,” said Saucier.
That consideration for safety begins even before the driver starts the bus.
A member of the Maine State Police Motor Vehicle Inspections Unit scores the pre-trip evaluation, which includes the driver doing a basic walk around of the vehicle and checking that all safety signal and equipment are in working order.
“I do my best,” said 30-year bus driver Rodney Bourgoin, who works for RSU 39 in Caribou.
“I’ve taken home a few trophies,” said Bourgoin, who also competes in separate bus mechanics competitions.
The conference was paid for by MAPT and Maine’s DOE, and included lunch and certificates.
