Her Work Is All Over Town But You Never See Her
Story by Katya Bubeleva

And the wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round...and those wheels are well-greased, well-maintained and safe... and they are on time...for the thousands of Reynoldsburg school children....Diana Colliver is behind the scheduling those buses on a daily basis to make sure everyone gets picked up, dropped off and the schedule is well taken care of.

   Imagine working 9 to 10 hours a day, then looking around and you still have a stack of things to do. Imagine the stress, the pressure, the time needed to accomplish such a thing. Yet, transportation secretary Diana Colliver does just that every day for Reynoldsburg City Schools. Colliver has worked for the schools’ transportation department for 4 years, and has been with Reynoldsburg City Schools for 12 years. “I wanted to have an opportunity to work in the school system on a full time basis...I wanted a new challenge,” she says of her job. “The drivers are just great. They take the time everyday to come in my office to say hello and just inquire about my family.” It certainly is nice to have such distractions.” The office is always busy,” Colliver acknowledges. Along with regular office duties, she is in charge of scheduling field trips for the entire district’s academic and athletic activities, as well as inputting data into the system for new students and address changes.

Colliver also answers any questions, concerns, or complaints of children’s parents and doing payroll for the entire department.” A major difficulty is not having enough time in the day to get everything done,” Colliver says. “The language barrier is also rather hard. I always feel bad when I am not understanding a person. I can usually figure out what they need, but it may take a little bit more time.”

 
  But Colliver has enough motivation to continue doing her hectic job.” Reynoldsburg has a great bunch of kids. The students know right from wrong and generally take directions from the drivers,” Colliver explains. “The same goes for the parents. They are always worried about their kids and that also helps our department with their jobs.”Sometimes the pressure can get to you,” she acknowledges. “It does get stressful when you have 35 or 40 buses on the road and one breaks down, or traffic jams up and puts everyone behind schedule. That’s when you can not get a break in the office.

    The phone will start to ring and ring with worried parents. It will keep you jumping and on your toes. ”At the end of the day, however, Colliver agrees that her job is never a dull moment. There is always something that needs to be found, corrected, and changed. A good stress reliever for Colliver is going home and seeing her family.”We usually have a nice sit down dinner where we take turns letting each other know how our day went.”And there is a lot to be thankful for. ”I really feel good when I can help a person solve bus issue, a bullying issue, or a timing issue. It is rewarding to ease the fears of parents who are putting their little ones on the bus for the first time.”In the end, it’s the people that Colliver works with that make her want to come back and do her job again. She smiles, “They make it a joy to work for Reynoldsburg.”