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The Great Recession had an unexpected impact on the trajectory of Andrew Steenbock’s career who was in the lumber business post-2008.

“I delivered lumber and sold lumber, and I had a CDL (commercial driver’s license),” he said. “The housing market crashed back then and tons of people got laid off in that field.”

Steenbock, transportation supervisor for Auburn-Washburn USD 437, said he and his wife briefly swapped roles and he became a stay-at-home dad to his two children who were preschool-age at the time. 

“But we still needed some income, and I needed something to do for my sanity,” he said, laughing. “So, I reached out (to USD 437), did an interview, and got a job here as a bus driver.”

Steenbock said he drove regular routes in the field for about three years until a new transportation supervisor was appointed and he was offered the transportation manager position located in the USD 437 administration building. He said he learned a lot of what goes on behind the scenes of a district’s transportation program from Cindy Tarvin who initially hired him and who served as a USD 437 transportation supervisor.

“She shared a lot of behind the curtain stuff with me that made me fall in love with this work,” he said. 

Steenbock said being part of USD 437’s family-oriented environment has allowed him to spend more time with his family and coach his children’s sports team as they were growing up. He said his wife, Rachel Steenbock, joined the district’s human resources staff several years ago and his children want to eventually become teachers in the Topeka-area district. 

“It's been a rewarding career path once I jumped into it here,” he said. “It’s a family here at Auburn Washburn and in our transportation department.”

Steenbock said the ongoing nationwide shortage of school bus drivers is one of the most challenging aspects of his work. With the certifications and other requirements for the job, he said driving a school bus is a “niche position.” He said many of his drivers perform other jobs across the district which leads to better retention. 

“Not just anybody can walk off the street and be a bus driver,” he said. “But we try really, really hard to get good people that want to care for our kids and our community.”

The implementation of the My Ride K-12 app by USD 437 within the past five years has helped alleviate a lot of communication issues with families who are able to track where their student’s bus is on their route to and from school each day, Steenbock said.

“It’s given parents a lot of peace of mind because they’re able to follow along,” he said. “That means less phone calls for our staff for the kinds of things that come in during route time that are already kind of challenging.”

The KSDE school transportation safety unit encourages each district to participate in some form of recognition of their school transportation staff on National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day, on April 28. Celebrate these dedicated school bus drivers who play a critical role in student safety and educational success.