Driving to distinction

Young Chang

Sally Miller once sat in her school bus from 3 to 9 p.m. because her

passenger, a young boy who was mentally challenged, had no one to meet

him.

They sang songs and read books until the boy’s mother arrived. Miller, an

Ocean View School District bus driver, didn’t want police to take custody

of her young friend.

That would have scared him, she said.

Tuesday, the 62-year-old woman was named California’s School Bus Driver

of the Year for doing her job safely and compassionately. The recent

retiree received a plaque from Richard Lane, assistant chief for the

California Highway Patrol, at an awards ceremony at the Ocean View School

District offices in Huntington Beach.

“She just always did an exceptional job of going above and beyond the

call of duty,” said Le Ann Quick, the district’s director of

transportation. “And she did it because that’s just the way she is. She

didn’t do it for recognition or pats on the back.”

A district driver for 25 years, Miller said she is attached to her

students.

For years, she helped special education and handicapped passengers get on

and off the bus.

For miles, she and children between 8-months-old and eighth grade sang

Disney tunes from the radio and from her tapes. Songs from the movie

“Tarzan” were recent favorites.

And for more than two decades, Miller watched young preschoolers grow

into middle schoolers and then eventually become the fathers of her

current little passengers.

“A lot of times, the bus driver knows what’s going on in [kids’] lives,”

Miller said, “before the teachers or parents do.”

The bully that steals everyone’s lunch money, the boy who knows someone’s

bringing something taboo to school, the student with the most Pokemon

cards -- Miller has met and heard of them all.

“If they have any problems, [the kids] usually confide in me,” the

Fountain Valley resident said.

Quick noted Miller is someone to be trusted, in more ways than one.

Denise Medina, an officer for the California Highway Patrol, said Miller

was selected for the state award because of her accident-free driving

record.

“For 25 years... to drive a big, yellow bus without ever being involved

in a collision is pretty remarkable,” Medina said.

Looking back on her career, Miller remembers well-behaved children who

didn’t break bus rules. She remembers the days before two-way radios,

when she had to run into schools to make a call. And she remembers

calling emergency numbers if a handicapped passenger had a seizure on the

bus.

“They’re like my own grandchildren,” Miller said.