Meslin entrusts Adam Wayne, Newport-Mesa’s supervising mechanic to oversee the main- tainence of 80 school buses, including 29 CNG buses.
Meslin said Kim Egnotovich is one of his most experienced drivers who oper- ates sub routes.
came to San Diego,” said Robinson. “He’s just as sarcastic as me and quickly told me he didn’t want the job. In fact he had ‘no desire’ to apply, which was why he was made the acting director.” When the district reorganized and asked Meslin to manage IT systems for the transpor-
tation and food services departments, Robinson recalled that he found it “interesting” to learn more about special education programs. “So there it began,” she added. “I dragged him into IEPs, made him like the wheelchairs
and told him that getting involved in CASTO and NAPT would build his character. Who knew we created a monster. His enthusiasm for making a difference in school transporta- tion has been infectious.” It was also in San Diego where Meslin met Fred Selleck, the transportation services
chief prior to Robinson, who taught him about embracing the big picture as well as the art of “letting go.” “I’m a Type A who tends to micromanage,” Meslin said. “Your people can’t own the prod-
uct if they think you’re going to do it for them. I hire owners.” Meslin accepted the director of transportation gig at Newport-Mesa in 2004, and ever
since he has overseen a complete transformation of not only the department but also em- ployee morale. Tat starts with hiring the right type of people. First and foremost, Meslin said he looks for passion in prospective employees. While expertise is also important, he added that he can’t teach people to truly care about what they do day in and day out. “Te first thing I said when I got here was that if you don’t care about kids, now is a good
time to look for another job,” he said. “I will hire a driver with one year experience over one with 20 years of experience any day. Experience matters, but only to the extent that it improves your own expertise.” He said he seeks employees willing and able to take the ball and run with it. Te result is
a culture of transparency and involvement. For example, all drivers are included in district student-behavior support plans for regular and special education. “In general, people want to do a quality job. It’s part of getting value out of your work,”
he said. “Sometimes they need somebody to say, ‘Why aren’t we going in that direction?’” While many school districts continue to experience severe driver shortages even in this
economy, Meslin said, for the most part, that is not a big problem in his department be- cause of Newport-Mesa’s ability to attract passionate, quality people. Part of the reason is that the district values drivers as integral to the educational process, a focus of Superin- tendent Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard, who arrived one year after Meslin. Meslin said Hubbard has been instrumental in helping him facilitate change and instill a value of intolerance for any processes that aren’t good for kids. Meslin likes to paraphrase the words of Kevin Jennings, former assistant deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, that kids who fail to get to school fail in life. “Our challenge (as student transporters) is to convince people of that,” said Meslin. “What we do matters for kids, and what doesn’t matter for kids, maybe we shouldn’t
46 School Transportation News Magazine November 2011
be doing it.” Now, employees in other departments
also see the value of transportation and how the entire district can “chip in to help kids,” as Meslin puts it. “Tat’s the rewarding part, to see
them making a difference.” Meslin certainly has done the same.
Ask his own employees or anyone in the industry who knows him and they’ll certainly say he is an expert at what he does. Pamela McDonald, past president of CASTO and transporta- tion director at nearby Orange Unified School District, said Meslin’s passion is contagious because he always follows through. She said he is the reason why the association’s “Access and Mobility” book was updated last year, as Meslin actually rewrote the book and pub- lished it himself. In addition to being named Newport-Mesa Administrator of the Year in 2009, Meslin was also re- cently honored as an Orange County Friend of Special Education for advice he shared with a neighboring district’s special education director. His knowl- edge has also made him a popular booking for state and national trans- portation conferences. He noted that the ability to impart some of that wis- dom is rewarding. “I don’t know it all, and I’m not
threatened by someone else knowing more,” Meslin added. “(But) when you see it works and people can imple- ment your ideas for other districts or states and it’s impacting kids, you talk to peers and share. You have to believe some of it stuck.” ■
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