News
DRIVERS
WANTED
The Community Transition School
is seeking a school bus driver for
the fall, roughly 20 kids on the
route.
Join a small, dedicated staff, helping
kids of homeless families get a chance
at a stable school experience. We
provide door to door transportation to
our pre-K to 8th grade students,
wherever the families are living.
$16/hr., about 4 hours a day, split shift,
4 hour minimum guarantee.
The shifts are roughly:
Morning:
6:30am-8:30am
Afternoon: 2:45-4:45pm
The ideal candidate would have the
following:
CDL with both P (passenger) and S
(school bus) endorsements, and a
current or recently expired state school
bus driver Certificate.
Please leave a message for Tom at
503-249-8582.
We at the Community Transitional
School have been transporting and
educating kids in pre-K to 8th grade
since 1990. Learn more about us at
our website:
http://www.transltlonaischool.org
CTS, from page 9
been there before, he might say ‘I’m not
“Stay focused.
gettin’ off here!’” --
“Quiet voice, .
If a child doesn’t show up at the morning
“Wait your turn.
bus stop, Tom or someone in the office will
“Be respective.
call to find out what’s going on - but if they
“Don’t waste others time.
ne of the biggest challenges for
can’t get through and the child doesn’t show
“No messing with things.
homeless parents - a challenge that is
up for a couple of days, they stop sending
“Don’t ask for things you shouldn’t have.”
passed on to the School — is simply to get
the bus. It’s a painful part of the job; “You
Tom embodies these rules so naturally
the kids to school and home again. A family
get to know the kids, and then they’re
and completely that they might have been
might have to move quickly over a weekend;
things can change in the middle of the day, ’ gone,”
written specifically to describe his behavior.
Osa described what these families deal
He said that what he should have is buses
and the child has to be dropped off at a
with: “It’s chaotic, a brutal lifestyle. Outside
different stop. CTS eases that one stress
that never break down, and he’d like to be
of school, it’s near-constant instability.”
point
able to pay drivers better. But he makes do.
Once the children arrive at CTS each day,
The rule is that parents have to call
When a bus does break down on the road
they’re safe, well-fed and cared for. For
with any changes of location before noon to
and can’t be repaired right there, there’s no
homeless families, that may seem more
get on the next day’s schedule. But Tom can
back-up bus waiting at school. Tom has to
important than the education the kids are
be a little flexible.
call on local taxi companies to rescue the
getting, she said; many of their parents
“Sometimes if they warn me something
kids. Yes, it’s expensive, but What else can.
didn’t finish school.
might happen over a weekend, I can be on
he do? The kids are depending on him.
“The family culture is survival,” she said.
the lookout, and then if it happens to be
“Bus situations just kind of keep
Even kids who’ve been with us a long time,
near one of our normal stops, I can usually
happening,” he said. “It’s overwhelming.
they don’t understand that education is tj
fit it in and let the driver know ahead of
But compared to what these lads and their
their ticket to a better life.”
time.
families have to go through ...” He shrugs.
Yet at school, “someone is holding them
“When it’s not close, and we can’t handle
No need to finish that sentence.
accountable and believes in them enough to
it, then the parents are bringing them in,”'
have expectations.”
he said.
Tom knows to expect tense moments.
T ) ehind Tom’s desk, there’s a huge pink
Some CTS parents have cars; but it’s not
“The situations that the kids are in, it f
- U heart made from construction paper.
the norm. And even if they do, he said, “it’s
It’s decorated with messages, in children’s
tends to make their whole family stressed
probably a car that often doesn’t work so
out,” he said. “Parents might be mad at
practiced handwriting - a list of words to
well, or if it’s toward the end of the moftth,
something else, anti they direct it at us. Like describe Tom: happy, clever, good artist
they wouldn’t be able to afford gas or
if I say the bus will be there at 7 and it’s not
(“Without you,-I wouldn’t have known what
something. Then they’re putting the kid on
there till 7:10, they’ll be like, ‘How dare
shading is”), good with computers, helpful,
TriMet to get to the step.”
you!’”
organized, brave, “helps us with our math
Tom may have to figure out where a
Tom is understanding about such
problems, has a big job.” And thank-you
family has moved. Once, when parents
outbursts; “They’re doing the best they
notes: Thank you for the keys to the
didn’t call in, Osa told the chad, “Find an
"can.”
'
finS
bathroom. Thank you for lifting the tables at
envelope that has an address on it, and tell
The
rule,
of,
thumb,
he
said,
is
that
about
lunchtime, for driving the bus, for bringing
us what it says, and then we’ll figure out -
two-thirds of each route will be the same > color into our lives.
where to go.” Everyday, that second grader
every day. Other than that, it’s anybody’s
read out a new address, and called in to say
one ^ast note: The unsung hero of
guess. A parent can’t find her car keys. A
where she was. She moved 22 times that
bridge is o u t A bus has a flat tire. A kid
Tom dismisses any talk of his own
year. This past year, one student moved 13
says he’s moving, but the parent hasn’t
accomplishments and puts it all on the
times in 110 days, and missed only two days
called; “Every single stop has its quirks,”
children. He doesn’t get them to school, he
of school.
he said.
insists; they d o j t
“Usually I’ll figure out approximately
One of the hardest things about his job,
“A lot depends on the kids’ initiative,” he
which bus a child should go on and what
Tom said; is finding bus drivers, and their
said. “They have to figure it o u t Somehow,
route,” Tom said, “but that doesn’t always
work is an essential piece of the daily
magically, they find a way to get here.”
translate into a realistic picture of how
puzzle. He’s occasionally had to drive one of
things will actually work, and the drivers -
It s a remarkable place, and magic doesn’t
the runs himself.
sometimes they’ll have to decide what
seem too strong a word.
There’s a kid-written butcher-paper sign
makes sense, which side of the street they
What would Tom most want others to
beside the office door, sporting a child’s
can pick up on. If an apartment looks seedy
know about the Community Transitional
drawing of a cheerful guy in jeans and a
they might not want to let the kid off until
School? j
they see a parent there. Or if the kid’s never green t-shirt and listing office rules of <
He answers slowly, pausing to think, and I
behavior:
finally decides: “That it exists.”
said. “They are called ‘the hidden
homeless.’”
O
no ^ hwest
^
r E?
^ Ave-
Portland, OR 97230
Free career training for persons with disabilities
in janitorial and building maintenance
Requirements: •
Documented proof o f disability
^
SÈ
• ‘ v a iò « ® 0 ® 8 ' . . '
•
................
^
ncy in understanding and speaking
Pass criminal background check
Pass drug test
D isabilities:
Physical, m ental health, intellectual,
developm ental, a nd learning
Questions ?
Please Call: (503) 261-1266
or (800) 874-7917
email: careers@phcnw.com