Jon Thompson: ‘Bus Doctor’ Head Mechanic
Byron Bergen Central School District, New York Jon Thompson is the one
and only mechanic at Bry- on-Bergen CSD. For over a year, Thompson has solely responsible for 25 large school
buses, four small buses, six vans, seven maintenance vehicles, two tractors, two mowers, and two golf carts. He said he usually logs two to three hours of overtime a day. He worked as a truck mechanic for 25 years at Ford
Heavy Trucks. Then he worked at Meyers Campers as a shop foreman for another 10 years before deciding to get into the school transportation industry. He joined Bry- on-Bergen in January 2008 after seeing a newspaper ad. His day usually starts at 6 a.m., but in the winter it can start as early as 4:30 a.m. He checks in with dispatch and on his driver writeups before starting his bus services. He also drives or serves as an aide when needed. “Being my own boss and overcoming all the challenges, it’s re- warding,” he said. “I also love driving all the little kids and seeing how excited they are to get on a school bus. They know me as the ‘Bus Doctor.’” One shop luxury, he said, is the wireless mobile lift
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columns that pick up any vehicle, including full-size buses. While the shop itself hasn’t seen a recent upgrade, he noted that the facility includes a new parking lot for buses and cars and new automatic gates. Thompson holds an associate’s degree in heavy equipment and diesel. He was also selected as the Pupil Transportation Employee of the Year in 2021 by the Rochester Area Transportation Su- pervisors Association. Outside of work, he owns 70 acres of land, where he not only hunts deer and turkey but farms. He also enjoys spending time with his two children and granddaughter. “The school industry is a great place to work,” he said. “They have great benefits, weekends and holidays off (for the most part) and a great environment being around nice people and children.”
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