SD cards. A rainbow's worth of brightly colored folders. A health physical, and a “thumbs up” from the state police.

It takes a lot more than a tank full of gas and a morning coffee to get those yellow buses on the road in time for that first day of school photo.

Sue Roenigk, president of Sarver-based W.L. Roenigk Inc., knows the drill as well as anyone.

The company's slogan, “Family driven since 1945” is a nod to her parents: Her father William Roenigk founded the company driving one bus for the Freeport School District. And her mother Jeanne who ran the company until her retirement at age 80.

Today, the fleet is 900-vehicles (buses and vans) strong, spread over 10 garages and 25 school districts in four counties: Butler, Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland.

That means stops at 150,000 homes.

“I have a lot of really good managers,” Sue Roenigk said. “People handle their own districts. Like in Seneca Valley (where Roenigk provides transportation for students with special needs) Dorothy Herold is the manager. She handles the day-to-day operations between us and the school district, and between us and the drivers.”

Still, back-to-school shopping and planning for a bus company can be a momentous task.

First there are the vehicles, which range from seven-passenger vans to 84 passenger buses.

Most school districts require buses to retire at age 10.

This year alone, that meant fleet manager Mike Roenigk, one of Sue's siblings, purchased 84 new vehicles, including 40 full-sized buses.

The new vehicle count generally is so high that officials annually drive to Harrisburg to pick up all of the new license plates.

The fleet is maintained year-round by 45 mechanics, and a different crew spends the summer cleaning vehicles top to bottom. School buses are inspected three times a year: twice by state certified inspectors and annually by state troopers.

Inspectors “crawl under the buses (to check the mechanics). They go to the seats to make sure there's no holes,” said Bill Ross, supervisor of the Sarver garage. “They check to make sure the buses are clean.”

Trooper James Long said during the annual state police inspections, “it's pretty rare to find a major problem with a bus. The companies know in advance they will be inspected, and they do a fairly good job of making sure everything is in order before then.”

Long said the inspections are performed by troopers certified as motor carrier safety inspectors. They get assistance from troopers who also have special training.

“Without the training you wouldn't know what you're looking for,” Long said, noting there also is a standard checklist every bus must pass before it can be used to transport students.

“This is a pretty big job,” Long said. “On any given day, there can be up to a dozen troopers involved per county.”

The process requires planning from both the companies as well as the school districts.

“Rest assured though if a bus doesn't pass, it doesn't go on the road,” Long said.

Even before arriving in the district, each bus is given a predelivery inspection, said Jeff Pschirer, vice president of school bus sales for Blue Bird Corp., one of three companies Roenigk buys from.

Pschirer said the modern school bus is different from the one mom and dad likely rode as children.

“For example every bus today comes with a child check system,” he said. “The system forces drivers to walk to the back of the bus. They must hit a button on the back of the bus to disarm the system. If they don't hit the button, the horn will blow and the headlights will flash.”

Today's buses also come with crossing arms, individual security cameras and compartmentalized seats. Those seats, Pschirer said, situate children “above the impact zone in the event of an accident.”

Once at the garage, new buses get a series of decals including the company name, fleet number for state tracking and white numbers for route numbers.

And those buses that get retired?

“They're sent to auction,” Sue Roenigk said. “A lot of them end up in Mexico.”

The schedules

Sue Roenigk buys brightly colored folders by the case. Each folder holds a schedule: the where and when of a route, the student passengers' names and seating charts.

Bus schedules are generally put together two ways: either solely by the district or by the district in cooperation with the bus company. Routes are planned to mitigate the number of children who must cross traffic while trying to keep any single student from spending more than an hour en route.

Routes generally are limited to about 60 children to leave room for the possibility of children who move into the district mid-year.

“I don't know in my lifetime how many times I've had to explain to a parent, 'Someone has to be first and someone has to be last,'” she said of the scheduling.

Weather delays and cancellations are always determined by the school district, not the Roenigks.

Sue Roenigk said it's not unusual for parents to call and ask what time a bus will be arriving on two-hour delay days.

“A two-hour delay really is a two-hour delay,” she said. “Whatever time your child is picked up, it will be two hours later.”

The drivers

Like many school bus companies, W.L. Roenigk is hiring new drivers.

Drivers must have a physical annually and be recertified every four years. To get a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), you must be at least 18 years old. Drivers also must possess a special school bus license.

Sue Roenigk said stay-at-home moms who appreciate the schedule and summers off as well as retirees make great school bus drivers.

“They've already established a work ethic,” Sue Roenigk said. “They are the ones who walk in here and say, 'My wife said if you think I'm going to put up with you all day ...”

Some new drivers are initially concerned with the size of the vehicle. But, the officials say, it's more likely that newcomers will express concerns about driving a couple dozen children.

“We had more fun on the bus than anything. Back (when I was a new driver) I had long hair, like Otto on 'The Simpsons,'” said Ben Roenigk, a cousin to Sue Roenigk. “But the kids knew when I said to be quiet, they'd be quiet.”

Ben Roenigk, who has been driving bus since he was an 18 year old hauling workers to local mills, now is a manager and always on standby for advice.

“You've seen everything the new drivers are going to see,” he said. “They are kids. They are never going to sit there like statues … if you gain their respect they will behave very well on those days the roads or traffic is bad.”

And Sue Roenigk said, “We get a lot of support from the school districts” which have individual, but generally progressive disciplinary policies relating to school bus behavior. Solutions, determined by district officials, can range from changing a child's assigned seat to removal from the bus.

Nowadays, to protect the driver as well as the children, there's a camera on every bus recording activities to an SD card.

“Ten years ago, there would have been no such thing as checking your cameras,” Sue Roenigk said. “Now we have to make sure everyone has SD cards.”

Job perks for drivers include summers off, free time during the workday and you get to be in a lot of first day of school photos.

“Most children love those big yellow buses,” Sue Roenigk said. “Sure there will always be some kindergartners who cry or scream. And sometimes a parent will get scared and follow the bus to school. But in a couple of days, it's routine. They have their seats. They have their friends. Kids adjust way quicker than you would think.”

Some of the drivers take their jobs in a different direction, wearing costumes for Halloween or Christmas.

But, the Roenigk officials say, that is certainly not required.

Good and safe driving is the priority.

“In South Butler we have 2,900 kids grades K-12, and our basic goal is to get them to school and get them home as safe as possible,” Ross said. “At the end of the day, I can say I got all my 2,900 kids home.”

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