Meet Ulster County’s School Bus Driver of the Year

We entrust our children to their care every school year. They have to deal with all kinds of weather and any issues that may arise with a bus full of children. I think driving a school bus has got to be a hard thing to do and I think it takes a special type of person to be able to do it well.

Ulster County Executive Mike Hein agrees and each year Ulster County recognizes school bus drivers with a special award. This year, County Executive Hein presented the Ulster County’s School Bus Driver of the Year award winner to Raffeala Policastro. The runner up for the Bus Driver of the Year is Phyllis Cutler. This award is issued in conjunction with “Operation Safe STOP,  a cooperative project in New York State that seeks to promote school bus safety through education and enforcement efforts.

County Executive Hein also stated, “I want to congratulate the award winners and thank them for their experience, skill, and dedication to safely transport our children safely to and from school every day, as well as the approximately 700 Ulster County school bus drivers they represent.  I also want to recognize our law enforcement community for their continued efforts enforcing the stopped-school bus laws protecting thousands of children and educating the public about the hazards of passing stopped school buses.”

I send my congratulations along as well. I wonder if other counties do this, because that would be great to recognize folks who work so hard to keep our children safe.