Frank Graham repaired vinyl seats in a school bus.

Dan Greable replaced a defective clearance light switch in a school bus.

School bus routes for Jackson R-II and Cape Girardeau public schools will be published in the Wednesday edition of the Southeast Missourian.

As children and parents start thinking about back-to-school shopping and class schedules, school transportation managers are polishing up their buses and driving skills in preparation for the first day of school.

Before youngsters step onto their big yellow bus, hours of planning, training and work have taken place. The goal is to get children from home to school and back home again safely efficiently.

And it isn't easy. Just ask Jim Grisinger, manager of Ryder Student Transportation System, which provides bus service for Cape Girardeau schools. In addition, Ryder also provides transportation for five Southern Illinois school districts. Cape Girardeau school buses logged 262,210 miles last year. When miles for all six schools are totalled, the Ryder fleet traveled almost a million miles last year.

Grisinger said the hectic weeks are upon him. He is working with principals and athletic directors scheduling buses and routes, arrival and departure times and logistics to make sure children are at the right place at the right time.

Grisinger has spent hours the past few weeks driving routes for Cape Girardeau public schools. Once a route is mapped out in the office, someone must drive it to make sure the directions are correct and no obstacles exist.

"We can't send a wide bus down a narrow street when people park on both sides," he said. "We check to see if the bus has to cross a bridge with a weight limit. We check to see if the directions say left turn when it should be a right turn."

This year, for example, they changed routes for buses around a construction project at College Avenue so children wouldn't have to walk through the construction zone.

Over the summer, all the buses are reinspected by the Missouri Highway Patrol. The Cape Girardeau fleet got a perfect rating for the ninth year in a row and earned a certificate for that record. Cape Girardeau has a couple of 1995 buses that had to be outfitted over the summer. In addition, routine maintenance takes place.

Drivers are coming in for training this month. They include Robert Harris, who was named Driver of the Year for Cape Girardeau last year. Drivers sit through classroom courses that include a safety review. Grisinger said they learn about accidents other companies have had and how to prevent the same occurrences.

All the drivers come in for a driving refresher also. "They actually spend some time behind the wheel," he said.

The goal is a perfect start of school. "It will be pretty darn close," Grisinger said. "So far we have opened school every year and we haven't lost anyone yet."