Thousands of miles will be logged this year.
Getting the children of Star Valley and Cokeville to school is no small task. Every day, rain, shine or snow, students need to be taken to school and home again.

Athletes need to be transported to games and back. Children participating in all sorts of clubs and after school activities rely on activity buses to get them home.

Classes need transportation for field trips. All of this responsibility falls on the Lincoln County School District No. 2 Transportation Department, which is now being run by the new director, Dallan Tolman, who started the job this August.

Statistical data on miles, buses, students, routes, drivers and other information related to the district’s transportation was last gathered in February 2007.
As of Feb. 14, 2007, the LCSD No. 2 buses were driving over 4,000 miles per school day. Over 1,300 students were being transported in the morning, over 110 students were being transported at noon, and over 1,500 students were being transported in the afternoon and evening.

Covering all of those miles and transporting all of those kids to school and back were a total of 36 bus drivers with 41 routes in the morning, 19 routes at noon and 80 routes in the afternoon and evening.

The Lincoln County School District No. 2 Transportation Department is expecting similar numbers for the 2007-2008 school year.

“We may see a minimal increase in students and miles, but we anticipate it being very close to these numbers,” Tolman said.

As of February 2007, the longest bus route was 76 miles round trip, and the shortest was six miles round trip.

In the last fiscal year for the LCSD No. 2 Transportation Department, which was July 2006-June 2007, over 935,500 miles were driven by district vehicles, which is enough miles to circle the globe over 37 times.

Over 695,100 of those miles were attributed to regular bus routes, over 150,900 were from activity trips, over 3,600 were from summer activities, over 35,900 were from field trips, over 18,325 were from summer school and the other 6,880 miles were for other excursions. These total miles include 106 trips out of the state of Wyoming and included 175 days of school buses being used.

To keep all of these vehicles running, the LCSD No. 2 Transportation Department has three mechanics and two large fuel tanks, one for diesel fuel and one for gasoline. While most of the school buses run on diesel, the gasoline is used for some of the smaller buses, as well as the district vehicles, lawn mowers, etc.

Drivers in the Lincoln County School District area should be aware that bus drivers have the authority and responsibility to keep track of all vehicles that illegally pass stopped school buses with their lights blinking and the arm extended. License plate numbers and vehicle descriptions are recorded in a log and reported, and dispatch is called.

On February 14, 2007, in LCSD No. 2, five vehicles illegally passed a school bus in the morning, and 10 vehicles illegally passed a school bus in the evening. If you illegally pass a stopped school bus, you should be aware that you will most likely be getting a ticket.

Lincoln County School District No. 2 is always looking for substitute bus drivers. If you are interested you can call Dallan Tolman at 885-7146, or an application can be picked up at the District Office.

Parents with questions or concerns regarding the children riding the school buses can reach the Transportation Department at that same number.