FARMINGTON — Richard Joseph Jr., director of transportation and custodial services for the district, gave tremendous praise to his staff when giving his administrative report to the Regional School Unit 9 board of directors meeting on Tuesday, April 11.

“Without them, we wouldn’t be out here moving along, cleaning our buildings, driving the buses, fixing our buildings,” Joseph stated. “I want to thank them. Kudos to everybody. Awesome team.”

Joseph highlighted one member of his team in his report. Mechanic Eric Jones, who has been with the district for a long time according to Joseph, attended an all-expenses paid training at the Roush Factory plant in Detroit, Michigan, on Feb. 21 and 22.

According to Joseph’s report, The Roush plant converts the Ford 7.3 V8 [Godzilla] engine and fuel tanks for propane use. Jones stated that the plant was over a million square feet and a van was needed to get from end of the factory to the other.

Superintendent Christian Elkington also praised Jones for his work at the district.

“If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times about how fortunate we are to have [Eric Jones],” Elkington stated. “He is not only a great mechanic, but he does tremendous body work. We are just blessed to have someone who saved us thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars over the years. He’s a great employee, great staff member and a great member of the team.”

Elkington continued that they are fortunate to have people like Jones a part of the team given the increase in cost for certain parts that are vital to the school buses. According to Elkington and Joseph, a leaf spring used to cost anywhere between $200 and $300, but now sits in the price range of $800 and $1,000.

“We’re fortunate Richard’s team orders these things in advance because they know we’re going to need them,” Elkington said.

When asked by Chairperson Carol Coles about how many miles a year they drive, Joseph estimates that they drive roughly 600,000 a year transporting the students.

Elkington’s final note was that he had stopped asking Joseph how many people they are missing daily.

“They average somewhere around three to four people,” Elkington stated. “We have some older drivers and, you know, there may be some health issues. We’ve had a couple of drivers slip and get concussions. We’ve had some other issues that weigh in.”

Elkington praised Joseph for still managing to maintain all their necessary routes and continue to safely transport students to and from their destinations without issue.

“I’m still amazed with the hundreds of thousands of miles that we drive and transporting 1,800 to 2,000 students, we’re able to cover those routes,” Elkington stated. “Just kudos to them.”