With the start of school locally last Wednesday, it caused me to think about something we rarely consider – the many things we take for granted.

For example, we take for granted that staff will be at the buildings as classes start.  We take for granted the food services workers that handle lunch and other important duties.

In the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools, we have a big bus transportation system.  As the fourth-largest school district in Indiana (by student count), the  transportation operation takes students to and from home and school safely and efficiently.  Geographically, HSE is also large, taking-in all of Wayne, Fall Creek and Delaware Townships.  Not that its perfect, but the system generally runs smoothly under the direction of Zach McKinney.

The Jefferson County Schools in Louisville, Kentucky do not take their student bus transportation for granted.  That school district had a major meltdown in its transportation system on the first day of classes.

According to a story posted to the PBS Newshour Web site, a new bus routing system created a “logistical meltdown” and led to the cancellation of classes for two days.

Here is part of the PBS story:

It took just one disastrous day for Jefferson County Public Schools leaders to completely reexamine the transportation plan for Kentucky’s largest district, which serves 96,000 students. Some kids arrived home hours late on Wednesday, and classes were canceled Thursday and Friday.

“We are reviewing what happened Wednesday to determine where the issues were created, why they happened and how to prevent them from happening again,” district spokesperson Mark Hebert said Friday.

So, we take so much for granted we often do not appreciate the long list of teachers, support staff, bus drivers and other civil servants that allow school to run smoothly most of the time.  Think about that.  We do take a lot for granted.