When the students step on to generic yellow school bus 16, they are greeted with a smile and a happy hello. When they step off, they are told a cheerful goodbye and told to be safe. Though the bus may be generic, the driver, Darcy Harris, is anything but.
“I have been driving Bus 16 for eleven years now,” Harris said. “There are only three bus drivers that have been driving for as long or longer than me.”
Harris originally began driving the bus due to life circumstances.
“I had just lost my job at Home Depot, and I needed extra money,” Harris said. “So I thought, “Hey, I’ll drive this bus for a year.’”
His plan changed as he quickly got hooked on his new job.
“[Driving the bus] just kind of pulls you in,” Harris said. “You get attached to the kids, and I definitely didn’t plan on staying as long as I have, but it’s [too hard] to think about quitting. The kids here in this district are so nice, and so good.”
Harris has been a constant in many kid’s lives.
“He has been my bus driver since 1st grade,” sophomore Chase Roberts said. “And he gets along with everybody.”
But there’s more to Harris’s life than driving the bus.
“I have another job, I do property management, which is the care of rental property,” Harris said.
These are only some of the entries on a colorful resume.
“Actually, after I graduated college, right after, I taught karate and self-defense at Collin County College,” Harris said.
Unlike many bus drivers, Harris interacts with the kids he is charged with transporting.
“It’s really fun listening to what [the kids] have to say. When [the kids are] older it’s routine, but when [the kids are] younger, you just never know what they’re going to say,” Harris said. “It’s like, what’s it gonna be?”
Many of the students appreciate Harris’s approachable attitude.
“I liked him as a bus driver because he was really nice and genuinely cared about us,” senior Natalie Scott said. “When there would be bad weather he would take time out of his day to make sure we got [home] safely. He’s very understanding of how young teenagers are and instead of screaming and getting mad he would calmly talk to us instead of being condescending and demeaning.”
While Harris portrays a cool and calm demeanor, he doesn’t hesitate to enforce the rules.
“I actually went seven years without writing people up, I hate it, that’s the worst part of the job,” Harris said. “But if I have to, I will.”
Although disciplining students is something Harris doesn’t like, the rest of his job more than makes up for it.
“I absolutely love seeing the kids grow, it’s the best part of the job, seeing them get older and start driving and graduating,” Harris said. “Truly [driving this bus] is the best part of the day. Being allowed to be a part of these kids’ lives, that’s my favorite part of being a bus driver.”
