Williamsport School Bus Drivers Ready to go Back-To-School with STA

PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA – Student Transportation of America (STA) of Pennsylvania, the private bus contractor selected in June to provide busing to the Williamsport Area School District, today announced that more than 40 former school district employees – including drivers, monitors, aides and mechanics — have accepted offers to join the STA family of companies.

“The response from district drivers and applicants from the local area was excellent,” said Matt Wright, manager of STA’s Williamsport terminal. “We interviewed nearly 100 applicants and were very impressed with the professionalism, experience and level of commitment displayed by the driver candidates. The interview process gave us the opportunity to reassess the qualifications and credentials of all Williamsport drivers providing district administrators, parents and children with the highest level of confidence in their safety and security. We are working very closely, on a daily basis with district administrators and have a great team of drivers ready to go back-to-school with Williamsport students.”

Bus Driver Vivian Pena is one of six former district employees already on-the-job at the Williamsport terminal. She has been working throughout the summer cleaning the interior of the former district owned school buses, and assisting in preparing training materials for other new STA employees.

“We’re very excited about starting the new school year as STA employees,” said Pena, who worked for the school district for nearly 20 years. “We have drivers to cover all of the routes and most will cover the same routes they drove last year. The management team here is very experienced and Terminal Manager Matt Wright has done just about all of these jobs at some point in his career so he understands the challenges and rewards of being a driver, trainer and mechanic.”

Drivers who have signed on with STA will receive very competitive wages, the opportunity to earn a daily safety and attendance bonus, and are eligible for unemployment compensation during the summer months when school is not in session which was not available to district employees.

Williamsport has joined the growing number of school districts across Pennsylvania and the U.S. which have chosen to subcontract district-run school bus operations in order to save taxpayer dollars, upgrade aging school bus fleets and increase student transportation efficiency. Total savings to the Williamsport Area School District from the conversion to private school busing is estimated at $3.5 million over the next five years.

STA completed the $1 million purchase of the Williamsport school bus fleet last month and expects delivery of a dozen new school vehicles, valued at another $1 million, soon after the district’s 5,600 students return to school this fall. The company also will install a new computerized routing and planning system and each Williamsport school bus will be equipped with a state-of-art digital video system that monitors activities inside and outside the vehicle.

“The safety of our passengers is STA’s number one priority,” Wright said. “Our local safety team will be supported by regional and national safety personnel. We look forward to becoming active members of the Williamsport community and to extending our STA Education Foundation Scholarships to deserving Williamsport high school students.”

The STA Education Foundation awards scholarships to students who demonstrate academic achievement, community service and leadership. Learn more about STA and its commitment to the community at www.rideSTA.com

About Student Transportation

Founded in 1997, Student Transportation is the third-largest provider of school bus transportation services in North America, conducting operations through local operating subsidiaries. Student Transportation has become a leading school bus transportation company by aggregating operations through the consolidation of existing providers and conversion of in-house operations and currently operates more than 6,300 school vehicles in North America. For more information, please visit www.rideSTA.com

CONTACT:

Lynette Viviani

973-968-7929

[email protected]