Tennessee Elementary Principal Becomes Certified to Drive School Buses Amid Driver Shortage
As a school administrator, Emily Clark oversees the staff, curriculum implementation and budget for Norman Smith Elementary School. But last year, she realized there was a bus driver shortage. So the elementary school principal did something about it.
Tennessee elementary school principal Emily Clark is a true multi-tasker. As a school administrator, she oversees the staff, curriculum implementation and budget for Norman Smith Elementary School. But last year, she realized there was a bus driver shortage. So she decided to do something about it.
"I started studying the manual and practice tests online," she told WTVF.
She began training in October and got her certification to drive in January.
And in early March, she got her own bus route. "One student actually had said, wait are you the real Ms. Clark driving the bus?" she said. "They see me in the hallways and classroom but they couldn't believe I was behind the bus."
Clark said she was happy to be able to drive children to school, a time during which relationships were able to be built.
More than 20,000 students in Montgomery County rely on school buses each day, WTVF reported.
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