35% of transportation directors/supervisors


stated that they’ve had to terminate a school bus driver due to drug and/or alcohol use.


Is the legalization of marijuana complicating the hiring of applicants?


42% No


38% N/A: Marijuana is not legal for recreational/medicinal use in my state


20%Yes


Is the legalization of CBD creating complications when hiring applicants?


58%No 22%Yes


20%N/A: CBD is not legal for recreational use in my state


(Out of 69 responses to a recent School Transportation News reader survey.)


a mechanic, I was neutral, and friends with all of them. When I became the transportation manager, I wanted to bring them together. I prepared a big lunch and insisted that they eat with each other and not split off into the usual groups. They actually sat together, visited and started to get along. Since then, there is a lot of cooperation and teamwork.” Pearson said he often asks each


employee how they are doing, which of course is much easier with a small group, and keeps the lines of commu- nication open. As a team, the rule is that no one leaves for the day until all the buses are in from their afternoon runs. “You know you have a good group


when you can set your watch by them, and they have the interests of the kids and the community at heart,” he said. “They know which children might be living in a car, and they all will pull over when they recognize that vehicle and pick that child up no matter whose route it is.” As far as drug tests go, even though


medicinal and recreational marijua- na is legal in Colorado, Pearson said he doesn’t have a lot of issues. Being straightforward with the district’s ze- ro-tolerance policy, he added, “It’s not as big [of] an issue as some people think it might be, because the people that do want to partake just don’t apply here.”


Physical and Mental Health Go Hand in Hand No matter how large or small a de- partment is, keeping morale up can be difficult when challenged with children, parents, bad weather and other stress factors in pupil transportation. And it can be the difference in operating with a commonplace staff shortage or at full capacity. A different but potentially very


School bus drivers for Ignacio Joint School District 11 in Colorado, with Director of Transportation Clyde Pearson at the middle-right, remain stimulated with open communication and teamwork.


effective way of taming the chaotic energy in the lives of school bus drivers, technicians and any other transporta- tion professional could lie in ancient Chinese energy medicine. According to the Academy of Intuition Medicine, over the centuries, healers using energy medicine discovered that they were able


32 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2023


to positively influence the body’s health by working with its energy field. They taught their patients various techniques such as slow, measured movements, breathing, meditation, sound and vibra- tion, and relaxation. Thus, they helped their patients recover from serious illnesses and maintain health. Anyone who has learned Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Reiki, or similar practices, will have an un- derstanding that these practices each uniquely aim to correct imbalances and blockages of the body’s natural flow of energy. One such healer that is close to the


pupil transportation industry is Kristen Billingsley, the former owner of Heavy Duty Bus Parts and UltraLED, which closed at the end of 2021. She is well educated in chakras, crystals, essential oils, smoke medicine, Reiki, singing bowls, body-movement, and nutrition. As a holistic therapist, Billingsley said she can align the energy of your body as well as your business. “Everything has energy: your work- place, your vehicle, your house, your physical body,” said Billingsley. “But that energy needs to be of the highest vibration and not harboring energies and possibly entities that aren’t for your greatest good. I work with the assistance of Archangel Michael and the many other angels available to us all, to clear negative energy that may be blocking your chakra energy system, creativity, or impeding the workflow. Everyone should be able to come to work in a place with high-vibe energy.” She continued, adding that she would


love to help bus drivers and transporta- tion departments. “I’d even offer it as a gift, for a pilot program, if the director was open to it,” Billingsley said. “The session(s) could also serve as a team building exercise. I love to teach, so the drivers could learn to clear the energy in their bus every morning before their route and after the afternoon run. These techniques would flow over into their personal lives as well. It would be great to see the difference in the kid’s behav- ior. We could monitor the behaviors before and after the cleansing.” Emanating good vibrations is evident


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