"Whew!" Edwards exclaimed. "Sometimes I'm like, 'Oh God, that child could have gotten hit!""
School leaders stress safety as they prepare for two thousand additional students this year and some will be attending new schools.
"We are trying to absorb those new schools and those routes, so we are shifting those routes around so that we can absorb the growth within the same amount of buses and the same amount of cost," said Bob Snidemiller, Wake Schools transportation. "So basically, doing more with less."
That means more students and less money.
"It could mean a slightly longer ride for some bus riders," Snidemiller said. We try to minimize to a maximum of 45 minutes for any one student, one way."
Forty five is the top speed for school buses.
"Yes," Edwards confirmed. "We only can go 45. It has a governor. When you get up to 45, it shuts down."
One of the biggest challenges for a driver is a bus full of enthusiastic. However, sometimes rowdy children are not much of a problem for a veteran like Edwards.
"I've been doing it for so many years, you just get accustomed to doing it," she said. "It is hot, and the kids are hot, so I just try to get them to and from as safely as possible."
She hopes everyone will slow down during school transit hours.
