Wednesday, July 14, 1999
Ex-bus driver now transportation boss
BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DEERFIELD TWP. — Pam Freson watched as her twin boys clambered onto the bus for their first day of kindergarten.
Before you could say empty nest, their bus driver, Judy Lamb, called out to Mrs. Freson, asking what she was going to do with all of her free time.
Mrs. Freson said she didn't know. But she didn't ponder her newfound freedom long.
The next day, Mrs. Lamb pulled up to the stop with a bus driver's application for the Kings Local School District.
So as Mrs. Freson watched her sons embark on their school careers, she decided to start one of her own.
“I got rid of the two (children) and took on a whole lot more,” Mrs. Freson recalled with a laugh Monday.
Nine years later, Mrs. Freson has been named transportation supervisor at Kings.
After a two-year stint as a payroll-account clerk with the district treasurer's office, Mrs. Freson replaces Richard “Ship” Porter, who resigned to become transportation supervisor with the Milford schools.
She'll oversee more than 40 buses, about 35 employees, a $1.4 million budget and about 2,700 children riding buses each day.
“She has a good understanding of the department and all the functions. She understands contracts, works well with people. She's a hard worker; one that I think will devote whatever time's necessary to get the job done,” Superintendent David Query said.
One of the challenges for her department this year is adapting to new school starting times. The district is going from three main busing “tiers” to two this fall because of scheduling changes that made all elementary starting times uniform.
Students in kindergarten through sixth grade will start at 8:40 a.m. and will be released at 3:30 p.m. Junior and high school students will begin their day at 7:30 a.m. and will be released at 2:43 p.m.
All students will be released an hour earlier on Wednesdays this fall for staff development.
A critical component of Mrs. Freson's duties includes overseeing the mechanics of the buses.
Last fall, a bus crash at Kings sent about 75 students to hospitals because of a malfunctioning brake valve.
That kind of failure couldn't be detected when a driver checked the bus before the route or during general maintenance work, officials have said.
She views students' safety as her No.1 priority.
That's rooted in her early days as a bus driver.
“And like I've said, once you've been a bus driver, there's nothing else like it.”
Vision calls for tower to light Covington square
Witnesses vanish; suspect walks
Drug courts offer reprieves in life
Elegant living to help fund affordable housing
Suspect in killings gives up in Sidney
Railroad killings suspect in custody
Sidney says goodbye to slain teen-agers
Coach brought glory to city
Gunman holds police at bay
What women need to know about heart attacks
Kasich will bow to Bush
GET TO IT
Miss Piggy squeals about her new movie
$50K pledged to fight crime
Airport land called suitable for sewage plant
Century-old bridge will be replaced
City hopes to sweep away litter, leave pride behind
Clermont considers adding drug court, but not soon
Covington teen charged with arson
Embarrassment, job loss ruled risks of controversy
Ex-bus driver now transportation boss
Former jail officer's trial on sex charges postponed
Former principal moving up
Former 'victim' says prosecutors can't call him assailant now
Juvenile, other Newport crime mostly down
Lebanon approves tax deal to bring in 45 jobs
Loveland looks to Indy for bike ideas
Middletown/Monroe to seek levy
Middletown picks team for project
Museum is one man's praise of past
Norwood ready to flaunt itself with summer bash
Ohio sheriff is convicted in mob-link case
Schools taking time-outs to help educators improve
TRISTATE DIGEST
Warren Co. bosses get OK of early 'wish lists'
Warren rejects sewer proposal
Who was driver? Hair, blood taken from wreck
