He said Gardner taught him a lot about the industry, because he started out with knowing nothing about student transportation. If something works, don’t change it, and he had that down.”Įdwards remembers Gardner as being a hard worker and dedicated to his job. “To this day, we still have parts of our maintenance program that he put in place back in the late 60s because it was so solid,” Edwards said. He told STN that parts of YCUSD’s maintenance program still use some of the procedures and practices that Gardner implemented in the late 1960s. Then two years ago, Edwards was promoted to director of transportation for Yuba City USD. Laird currently serves as a driver trainer for the school district, and Gardner said he hired her when she was 20 years old.Įdwards started as a mechanic, working under Gardner for about nine years until he retired. Gardner said he trained both John Edwards and Rochelle Laird, who are still employees at the school. He also made sure all of his mechanics were licensed to drive too, so they could help out when needed. When they were short of drivers, he would go out on the road and drive when he needed to. He described himself as being a hands-on manager. In 1994, he retired as the transportation manager at Yuba City Unified School District. So, I went into pupil transportation permanently from there on out, and I am still at it.” “I decided that driving a school bus with kids on board for half an hour was not as bad as being with them all day at school. “I went to college to be an elementary teacher and taught for one year,” Gardner said. ![]() Gardner said he went to college to become an elementary teacher, but realized that being a school bus driver was more up his alley. I think I better give it up by then,” Gardner said. ![]() “I renewed my license the day after my 87th birthday and it will expire when I turn 92. In 1947, he started driving a school bus, and 70 years later, he still hasn’t stopped. Gardner was 20 years old when he began his first school bus driving job for a private school in San Diego, California. Phil Gardner just turned 90 on March 22, making him the oldest school bus driver in California. On Tuesday, the CHP presented him with a certificate of commendation. Gardner turned 90 years old on March 22, and he might very well be the oldest active school bus driver in the U.S. The California Highway Patrol honored Phillip Gardner, the oldest licensed school bus driver in the state, for over seven decades of safe driving.
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