BIXBY, Okla. — There is a common theme among school bus drivers from year to year: there aren't enough of them.
What started as a way to pay the bills for his family quickly morphed into twenty years of caring for Green Country's students.
“Kids needed someone to get them to school and back home," said Dallas Smith.
That's how simple it was. He saw a need and decided to fill it.
"It was like swimming almost," said Smith. "I just jumped right in and fell in love with it.
In 1998, Smith got behind the wheel of his first school bus.
For the next two decades, Jenks and Bixby students relied on a ride from Smith. But having gone to school for electronic engineering, in the beginning, Smith wasn't exactly ecstatic about the new gig.
"I wasn’t real fond of kids, but then immediately I felt something inside that thought ‘well I’m the first person that greets them, so I set their day. I’m the last person that sees them, so I take care of their evening as well.'”
But he wasn't just responsible for pick up and drop off over the years.
Smith fostered a safe community inside his buses that truly changed lives. Ashlee and Zac Leak met on one of Smith's buses in the ninth grade.
“19 years together, 9 years married. We have two kids that go to the same school system," said Ashlee. "I don't think I remember any other bus driver we've had except Dallas."
Her now-husband, Zac, echoed the sentiment. As he and Ashlee drove around Bixby's campus, he said the thing he remembered most about his younger days in education was waiting for or riding the bus.
"You know you don't even really think about it but that has a big impact on you," he said. "I remember walking up to the bus stop every morning, 7 a.m., just sitting there waiting. A lot of memories to it... getting my first kiss on the bus."
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Devoted drivers like Smith are in high demand across much of Green Country and have been for years.
In July, Tulsa Public Schools was short about 15.
Smith believes that the shortage stems from a variety of issues, including noncompetitive pay and a difficult test to obtain a commercial drivers license.
But, he said if you're made for the job, you will know.
“It has to be a calling," said Smith. "If you’re doing it for the money, you’re never going to get rich.”
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