DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Children are precious cargo. But, three months into school, districts across the metro are still short on bus drivers.
To help fill more than 100 open positions, DeKalb County is offering teachers the chance to pull double duty and train to drive buses, too.
Exavier Frazer is the first teacher to take the county up on that offer.
11Alive spent the morning riding along with Mr. Frazier as he drove his routes. When it comes to setting the tone for the day, Mr. Frazier nails it.
Students stop to hug him as they board the school bus. He greets them with a smile, a kind word and hugs them back before instructing them to find a seat.
Still waiting for the sun to rise, Mr. Frazier navigates the traffic of DeKalb County, encouraging both the kids and the big, yellow bus he affectionately named “Shiba” to get through the groggy, early morning.
“Come on, Shiba!” he says as he pats the dash.
The kids giggle behind him.
With his signature Fedora hat on the dash, Mr. Frazier keeps one eye on the road and the other on the precious cargo behind him.
“You’re not just focusing on the road. You have to actually focus on what’s behind you, those children, those people. You have to actually watch them, too,” he said. “It’s a very intense job. I’ll put it like that.”
Frazier is the first DeKalb County teacher to finish his CDL training and help fill the shortage of bus drivers. He is one of three teachers to be dual-employee bus drivers, but the county hopes more will apply.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I wouldn’t trade it for nothing. I love doing it,” he said.
The kids love him, too.
After finishing his morning routes, Mr. Frazier parks the bus and follows his students inside Stone Mill Elementary School. He brings his smile into the Media Center to start part two of his day, the job he’s done for 22 years: teaching kids.
“If I came here angry every day, it would be no good for anybody,” he said.
During the school day, he visits classrooms to read to the students.
In a Pre-K classroom, he reads a favorite Elephant and Piggie book titled “Let’s Go for a Drive!”
The children laugh and respond as his voice animates the characters, sometimes singing through the pages.
In the afternoon, Mr. Frazier is the first one out the door so he can board his bus and help drive those same students home.
He often deploys strategies from the classroom to keep students in line and safe.
“They’re very, very, very chatty. But, we put the chatterboxes in the front and then all the chatter kind of calms down,” he said.
Pulling double duty makes for long days. Sometimes he leaves and arrives back home in the dark.
“You don’t just do one route. You do two or even three routes. There’s a lot of work because we’re still shorthanded,” he said. “It’s a long day, but for some reason, I don’t mind.”
Mr. Frazier does it for the kids, but the extra pay doesn’t hurt either.
“Tell me something good! Yes, it is always good to take home a little extra greenery,” he said.
Between that and his students, it’s all the incentive he needs to be part of the solution to getting kids to school.