美国国家公共电台 NPR--A need for bus drivers forces school districts to be creative

A need for bus drivers forces school districts to be creative

Transcript¹

A nationwide shortage of school bus drivers means some districts are turning to creative solutions to get students to school safely. One of them involves escorting kids to school — on foot.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Maybe your family is living out the consequences of this next story with some unplanned carpooling. There are not enough school bus drivers right now. Some cities are trying some innovative² ways to get kids to class. Megan Pauly with VPM News reports on a school district in Charlottesville, Va., that's trying something called walking school buses.

MICHEL ANN SIZEMORE: OK, my blue bus friends, are we ready?

MEGAN PAULY, BYLINE³: Elementary school teacher Michel Ann Sizemore wears a bright yellow safety vest and carries a clipboard to mark off the names of students on her walking bus.

SIZEMORE: All right, here we go, friend. Can I put this on here? It says blue.

PAULY: Sizemore puts stickers on the hands of three little kids to indicate they're on the blue bus. She holds up a clear umbrella, and they set out single-file on the three-quarter mile walk to school. Walking school buses usually include two teachers - one at the front and one at the back. This small group only has one adult, so I tag along as the caboose.

JULIAN MICKEY: And look at my backpack.

PAULY: Oh, "Paw Patrol."

I walk next to 6-year-old Julian Mickey, who was very excited about his backpack. It's the first day of school, and there's plenty along the way to keep us entertained, including a high-five from a construction worker, plastic flamingos⁴ in someone's yard and spiderwebs in the shrubbery.

JULIAN: Oh, it's a spiderweb.

PAULY: Yeah, lots of spiderwebs.

JULIAN: You got to be careful.

PAULY: Julian is among hundreds of Charlottesville students from pre-school through high school who no longer have bus service.

KIM POWELL: The resuming of in-person instruction after the pandemic - that's when things really shifted here.

PAULY: That's Kim Powell, chief operations officer for Charlottesville City Schools. She says the district lost a significant number of drivers this past school year.

POWELL: A lot of times, people would choose driving a school bus as something to do in retirement⁵. And with the pandemic, a lot of retirees reconsidered if that was the best type of work for them to be doing.

PAULY: The same dynamic has played out across the country. That's according to Curt⁶ Macysyn. He's executive director of the National School Transportation Association, and he says filling these vacancies⁷ takes time.

CURT MACYSYN: It's not like you can take somebody from a hiring event, put them through a couple weeks of - or even a couple days of training and get them on the road.

PAULY: In addition to Virginia, districts in other states, like Texas and Missouri, have had to tell more students that they'll have to walk or find another way to get to school, especially those living within a mile or two. This past school year, when Charlottesville found itself with just a handful of drivers for around 4,500 kids, school officials knew they had to do something different. That's when they implemented⁸ the walking school buses. Right now, there are seven of them.

SIZEMORE: All right, this sidewalk's a little narrow. Go in front of me. All right, stay on the sidewalk.

PAULY: Back on the blue bus, the walkers turn a corner and trudge⁹ up a small hill.

JULIAN: I cannot get up there.

PAULY: At the top is a crossing guard. The district has been working with the city to hire more of them to get more walkers to school safely. They're also working together to make the streets safer, including widening those sidewalks.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED CROSSING GUARD: Good morning, have a good day.

PAULY: Good morning.

The crossing guard wishes kids a happy first day as they near the school.

UNIDENTIFIED CROSSING GUARD: I hope y'all have a great day of school.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Have a great day.

UNIDENTIFIED CROSSING GUARD: See you tomorrow.

PAULY: But those changes aren't enough for some parents to feel comfortable with their kids joining the walking bus. Mocita Thomas has a 5- and 9-year-old.

MOCITA THOMAS: You never know how a kid's mind works. And then you trying to keep them in one straight line, and then they can see something and run off. Like, no, I don't think it's safe for my kids. But some people is OK with it.

PAULY: Some people like Shaquille Stinnie. She plans to have her 6-year-old daughter take the walking bus.

SHAQUILLE STINNIE: It's going to be OK for, like, the first two weeks. And after that, it's going to be whining¹⁰ - my legs, my legs, my legs.

PAULY: District leaders say these walking buses are here to stay in Charlottesville, though that doesn't mean they've ruled out other strategies. Some districts in other states are even paying parents to take their kids to school.

For NPR News, I'm Megan Pauly in Charlottesville, Va.

(SOUNDBITE OF HYAKKEI'S "SEVEN-COLOR SONG")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 flamingos   

n.红鹳，火烈鸟（羽毛粉红、长颈的大涉禽）( flamingo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Flamingos stand in a salt lake in Larnaca, Cyprus. 塞浦路斯的拉纳卡市一个盐湖中的火烈鸟。 来自互联网
• The research started researchers studied greater flamingos and in a bird sanctuary in southern Spain. 研究人员在西班牙南部的一个鸟类保护区对大型火烈鸟进行研究。 来自互联网

5 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

6 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

7 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。

10 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。