KANSAS CITY, MO — Coach Tyrone Seymour is always steering his kids in the right direction at Platte Purchase Middle School.
“I am a certified bus driver in addition to being a teacher and a coach,” Seymour said.
Seymour took matters into his own hands to help ease a bus driver shortage in the Platte County R-3 School District.
“It’s something that I figured that they really needed and they wouldn’t be asking if they didn’t need it and it would be something to help out the kids,” said Seymour.
The district needs 54 drivers, but has 48 drivers.
JT Thomas, Director of Transportation for the district, said he’s grateful Coach Seymour stepped up, but they need more help.
“When you have somebody sick or whatever that you have to improvise and merge routes and it sometimes impacts when students get home and we don't like to do that,” Thomas said.
The district provides health benefits and pays for driver's CDL licenses and part of their training, Thomas said.
At first pumping the brakes on the idea, Coach Seymour says he’s glad he went the extra mile and he hopes others will join him.
“It’s more eye opening than enjoyable, but again that gave me another level of respect for the people who get to see our kids first in the morning and the last ones to see them before they go home and just how important their job is,” Seymour said.
