Who in the industry is progressing along a deliberate career path paved
by their supervisors? Written by Debbie Curtis
U
nlike the British monarchy, with its cen- turies old rules of succession based on heredity, or democracies with a sequence of elected officials, deciding who is the
next leader of transportation departments is often a decision placed on the back burner, es- pecially when there seems to be no end in sight to COVID-19 and driver shortage challenges. “We’re not growing our own leaders,” ob-
served Tim Purvis, the director of transportation for Poway Unified School District north of San Diego, California. “The shortage of qualified transportation directors is just as critical as the driver shortage.” His opinion not only comes from almost
40 years in the industry but his experience as a consultant. He also is part of a team that regularly presents the “So You Want to be a Transportation Supervisor?” seminar held at STN EXPO Reno, which is designed to give attendees who hope to climb the career ladder insights into what management entails. “I started driving while working toward my teaching degree, and one of my mentors sug- gested that I get an MBA instead, with the end goal of being a transportation supervisor. Here I am 38 years later,” Purvis said. “I’d never thought
of driving a school bus as anything more than a way to make some money. It was just a job. And that mindset is one issue with this field. Hardly anyone looks at transportation as a place where there are career opportunities.” Purvis explained that many supervisors have
worked their way up through the ranks from behind the wheel to the director’s office with- out being fully trained or mentored in labor relations, collective bargaining, district or com- munity politics, and other aspects of their new position. “They are often packed away in some distant
building far from the main office and left to their own devices,” Purvis said. “As a consultant, I often see fingers pointed at transportation as the cause for a lot of problems because other departments really don’t understand how a transportation department functions.” Not only does he see the lack of qualified trans-
portation leaders in his role as a consultant, but he’s also had his own assistant director, who he’d mentored, leave for another district. “When that candidate for your position leaves, it may cause districts to promote individuals who haven’t been prepared to step in,” he observed. “In Poway, I have supervisors who could step up to the job if
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