The Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department had 12 school bus drivers participate in the Kansas State Pupil Transportation Association’s Safe Driver Competition held on Wednesday, June 4th in Derby, Kansas. There were 76 competitors from across the state that participated in the competition.
Jerry Guerrero took first place in the Experienced Transit Driver Division and is the 2025 Overall State Safe Driver Champion. He will compete in the National School Transportation Association’s Annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition in Austin, Texas on June 28th and 29th.
The other drivers that competed from the district were Martha Swank taking 2nd in the Rookie Transit Bus; Ana Cantu Ortiz taking 4th in the Rookie Transit Bus; Sally Villegas taking 4th in the Rookie Mini Bus; Veronica Veloz taking 5th in the Rookie Transit Bus; Hermila Carillo taking 6th in the Rookie Transit Bus; Kathleen Pepera taking 7th in the Experienced Transit Bus; Raul Moreno taking 8th in the Rookie Transit Bus; Hiliana Carrera taking 9th in the Experienced Transit Bus; Brian Virgil taking 11th in the Experienced Transit Bus; Alma Carillo taking 12th in the Rookie Conventional Division; and Elizabeth Nunez taking 12th in the Experienced Transit Bus.
The school bus safety competition is designed to recognize excellence in school bus drivers while demonstrating skills needed in their demanding jobs of safely transporting students. The competition consists of a written exam and a series of skills tests.
The written examination tests the school bus drivers’ knowledge in all areas of school bus operations, laws, rules and regulations. This portion of the competition assesses the drivers’ knowledge as well as their ability to comprehend and respond to written instructions.
The driving skills portion of the competition requires the drivers to demonstrate exemplary skills in such areas as law/regulation knowledge, school bus inspections, and bus driving skill maneuvers. The drivers are challenged to maneuver a school bus around obstacles and demonstrate that they know all the ins and outs of operating a school bus.
The Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department has 35 professional drivers and 11 personnel that work to safely transport around 1,900 students per day, as well as 200 special needs students with daily door-to-door service. The school buses travel a total of 2,800 miles per day or approximately 529,200 miles per school year. The department covers 186 routes across the district during each morning and afternoon.