Pella Superintendent drives school bus to help with district shortage

PELLA, Iowa — The superintendent of the Pella Community School District is driving a school bus to help with the district’s shortage.

Last year, Superintendent Greg Ebeling filled in as a bus driver when needed, so when one driver said they could only work the morning route this year, he decided to step up and drive the afternoon route.

The district is two bus drivers short of being fully staffed. Sometimes, even the transportation director and bus mechanic would also fill in on routes.

Ebeling said that while they’re finding temporary solutions to the shortage, it’s not ideal for the transportation director to fill in on a route because if there is a problem on a bus, it would be best for him to be at the district’s bus barn, or the location where they keep the school buses.

However, Ebeling said he’s enjoying being a full-time bus driver while it lasts. He drives bus number 12 and has up to 50 students on his bus.

“There’s almost never a day that I don’t come home and talk to my wife about this funny little thing that happened on the bus today. Yesterday, we had a wasp on the bus. One day, we had a bloody nose on the bus. We’ve got this little girl that every day asks me ‘can we stop at McDonald’s.’ So, I get all kinds of just funny personalities that are just super kind and enjoyable,” said Ebeling.

To balance both roles, he gets to work early to complete his usual tasks so he can take students home after school.

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