Joe Hangge, chief operating officer of Minnesota Coaches, which now owns Rehbein, said this year’s COVID-19 pandemic isn’t having a huge impact on staffing and planning for the year. He said recent economic trends have meant fewer people are looking for jobs as bus drivers than in years past, a trend more troubling than the pandemic.
Rehbein managers are working closely with Centennial district leaders to make sure the company’s drivers are following all state guidelines for transporting students who do return to hybrid learning environments in September.
“When kids get on the bus, they can’t just sit up front,” said Hangge about one of the COVID-related guidelines about transportation of students. “We’re pushing everybody to the back, and then we socially distance up the front. Then, obviously, when we are departing the bus in the morning, the front kids get off the bus first and we go right down the line.”
Hangge said the company, which puts 1,000 buses on the roads every day across the state, is ready to run all of its scheduled Centennial routes when school begins.
“We’re constantly having open dialogue with (district officials), and we’re basically ready to go with whatever they need from us,” he said.
