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Bus driver takes road to happiness

Driving a school bus is increasingly challenging, and the pay isn't high. But some drivers love it.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published March 18, 2005

GANDY/SUN BAY SOUTH - Adrin Kepple has been driving a school bus for the past 35 years.

Not only driving, but minding about 150 kids each day as she maneuvers South Tampa roads.

It's a challenge.

"Honey, you've got to have eyes and ears everywhere," Kepple says.

It's 9 a.m. on a recent Thursday. She has just unloaded her last bus for the morning at Coleman Middle School.

"I watch this mirror all the time," she says looking into the 2-foot-wide mirror above her windshield that gives her a view of the entire bus.

Lately, the difficulty for drivers has grown.

Streets are increasingly crowded. Choice and magnet busing have added routes. And the deaths of two girls who had just gotten off school buses in Pinellas County cast a harsh light on drivers.

Kepple, 62, is the lead bus driver for the district's South Tampa area. It has 58 drivers who serve Robinson, Blake, Plant and Jefferson high schools, and the middle and elementaries that feed into them. Four positions are vacant, forcing some drivers to do longer routes.

Low pay, which starts at $9.18 per hour, deters many from joining the ranks. Drivers in Pinellas start at $11.29. Drivers must pass an extensive background check before being hired. There is no age limit. Each driver is in charge of a route for a high, middle and elementary school.

As lead driver, Kepple fields early morning calls from drivers who are sick or whose buses won't start. She calls other drivers to arrange a cover.

When needed, she fills in, sometimes doubling up on her route. She knows every route.

"You've got to have the personality to do it. You're under stress with the kids, covering breakdowns and people out.

"But I love it," she adds.

Morning deliveries finished, Kepple reports to the district office.

Her boss, Debi Byrd, a route coordinator for the district, considers the office lucky to have Kepple.

"She takes a lot of my load," Byrd said. "She helps a lot with safety, which is the district's biggest concern."

Kepple knows which roads are the most dangerous, such as Armenia and Howard avenues. "She's our eyes and ears out there," Byrd said.

Kepple modifies routes when drivers express concern about kids' safety or when a stop forces students to cross three or more lanes of traffic.

She plots new riders' addresses and assigns stops. She answers phone calls from parents, who often complain that buses are too crowded.

"It looks like they're overloaded, but they're not," she explains. Buses can hold 65 kids. That's three per seat.

Parents also ask, "Why can't you pick up my child at the door?"

It can't be done, she says. There are just too many kids to offer that level of service.

She watches all children get off her bus to make sure they aren't crossing a road that they shouldn't.

She's found that respect works best in dealing with kids.

"Children will behave the way you treat them. If I'm having a bad day, I get abrupt with them, they get abrupt right back. If you smile and you try to reason with them, they're fine."

Of course, overseeing so many kids, there's occasional trouble.

"One time a kid accused me of pushing him out the door," she said.

A mounted camera proved her innocent.

Cameras and other technology, such as two-way radios, have simplified the job since Kepple began driving in 1970.

Back then, she had four children at home. Her oldest was 10.

Their house in Shreveport, La., had burned down, and she and her first husband were rebuilding. While working on an electrical panel, he was electrocuted.

It was a difficult time. Kepple decided to move to Tampa after a visiting an aunt here. She didn't want to be reminded of her bad fortune in Shreveport, and she loved the beach.

She had worked as a gunsmith but wanted something more feminine then shining guns.

"I had thought that was man's work," she said.

She applied for a bus driver job after remembering a childhood neighbor who had driven a bus.

Soon after, she married her second husband, Raymond Kepple. They settled into a house near Robinson High School, where they still live.

Raymond Kepple had traveled the world while in the Navy and years later drove a Tampa city bus. Three years ago, he took his own school bus route.

"Mr. Ray," as he is known to children, drives for Dale Mabry Elementary, Wilson Middle and Plant High schools.

But for his wife, every day is a little different. Calls come as early as 4:30 a.m. from drivers who can't work that day.

She rises to the demands.

"It just comes naturally," she said.

Kepple is set to retire in December 2007.

"I might come back," she said. "I'm thinking about it."

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com

AGE: 62.

JOB: Bus driver for Hillsborough County schools.

PREVIOUS JOB: Gunsmith who specialized in cleaning and refinishing rifles.

HOBBIES: Going to the beach, shopping.

FAMILY: Husband, Raymond; three sons David Miller, Kevin Miller and Ray Kepple; two daughters Carol Bass and Lanette Ferguson; and eight grandchildren.

PETS: Two Shih Tzus, Yoko and Teddy Bear.

RETIREMENT DATE: Set for 2007, though "I might come back."

[Last modified March 17, 2005, 08:40:12]