Raymond Ginter Automotive Mechanic I
Bethlehem Central School District, New York Number of Vehicles Maintained: 100 school buses, 30 district service and grounds vehicles
Number of Maintenance Staff: 7 Raymond Ginter is no stranger to his community. A 34-year
scoutmaster for the local troop, he has also volunteered with his local ambulance squad for over 30 years, previously serving as an EMT, past captain, and past board member (until the squad was taken over by a paid county squad.) Ginter was recommended to pupil transportation by a friend.
After spending about three years in the private sector, he applied for a job at Bethlehem Central School District and started working there in February 2001. “I’ve always enjoyed working with elec- tronics and on computers, and modern pupil transportation buses are becoming more and more advanced in computer technology and diagnostics,” Ginter said. Karim Johnson, the director of student transportation and fleet services for Bethlehem, added via his nomination form that Ginter’s primary responsibility is repairing defects on driver’s daily vehicle inspection reports (DVIR). “Ray’s specialty is in chassis and body electrical systems,” Johnson continued. “Ray is also our go to tech person when it comes to anything computerized from buses to desktop computers. … Ray has fully embraced our district’s implementation of transportation technology by taking the lead in the shop on the telematics implementation on our bus fleet. He has worked closely with our technology vendor to ensure our telematics systems were configured correctly and in the deployment of electronic DVIR’s on our driver facing tablets. Through his efforts, we have already averted a costly engine repair due to the real-time telematics data.”
Kyle Highley Mechanic
Metropolitan School District of Wabash County, Indiana Number of Vehicles Maintained: 47 school buses, 3 corporation vehicles
Number of Maintenance Staff: 1
Kyle Highley is a one-man shop going on his eighth year in pupil transportation but 28th as a heavy-duty truck and equipment mechanic. He attended the local career center while in high school and always had a passion for fixing things, adding that he started his career as a mechanic before even graduat- ing high school. He came to MSD of Wabash County when transitioning from the county highway department. Highley, who was nominated by 13 various members of his school corporation, said he
32 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2023
enjoys the problem-solving aspect of the job. “I find satisfaction in solving a problem so that it does not become a recurring issue,” he said. “I also enjoy learning new things in my field. Transportation options are constantly changing, and I appreciate the opportunity to apply new ideas to our fleet.” Melissa Ball, transportation director for the
district, said in her nomination that Highley is very efficient and goes above and beyond when drivers ask for help. Plus, she said, out- side of work he serves a volunteer fireman.
Ginter noted that the
district currently has six electric school buses with one more on order and oth- ers planned. “The general maintenance and services are exactly the same as oth- er vehicles,” he said. “The only difference is the engine maintenance has now been replaced with electric motor maintenance, which is also on scheduled interval.” He added that the district is in the process of upgrading the
facility to install charging infrastructure. “Technology is forever advancing, and our shop seems to be keeping up with the latest advancements,” Ginter shared. “Our district has made sure that we have the necessary diagnostic tools to keep up with the main- tenance on our current fleet.” Supply chain challenges have slowed the process of finding
vehicle parts from their local vendor, he noted, adding that some- times buses sit waiting for parts. “However, we do have a great preventive maintenance team, which helps alleviate the potential of last-minute repairs,” he said. In conclusion, Ginter provided words of wisdom from a past
mentor of his. “A person’s value is measured on what he does for others and not what he does for himself,” he relayed.
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