Front & Center: Prioritizing plays big role in Kevin Young’s many roles for Oakesdale schools

OAKESDALE, Wash. – Like most school districts, Oakesdale has a transportation supervisor, a building maintenance supervisor, a computer network specialist and a baseball/football groundskeeper.

But here, they’re all named Kevin Young.

So is the assistant high school boys basketball coach.

That’s no coincidence. Rather it’s a testament to Young’s adaptability.

“I started off 29 years ago as the transportation supervisor,” he said. “Three years later, they asked me if I wanted to learn IT.

“Ten years ago, I’d start taking care of the football and baseball fields – fertilizing, mowing, spraying, irrigation.

“Then two years ago, they asked if I’d also be the building maintenance supervisor, taking care of the boiler, heater, repairs – that kind of thing.”

Of course, Young has help, including 10 bus drivers and a janitor.

“But I don’t like to tell people they work for me,” he said. “They work with me.”

During a recent interview, Young discussed snow days, steno pads and sitting in the woods.

S-R: Where did you grow up?

Young: Right here. We lived on a farm.

S-R: What was your first job?

Young: By sixth or seventh grade, I was running the grain elevator. A couple of years later, I got my ag license and started driving a truck, and I worked for farmers all through high school.

S-R: Did you have a favorite class or activity in high school?

Young: I was not good at English and science. But I loved math, and I was a sports nut. I played football, basketball and baseball.

S-R: What career did you envision?

Young: I thought about being an engineer. But after one year of college, I came back and started working for a farmer – Steve Crider – when I was 19. I was with him 12 years, until the transportation supervisor job came up.

S-R: Was it tough giving up farming?

Young: Yes. But when I told Steve I was going to apply, he said, “Kevin, that would be a really good job for you. I’ll do whatever I can to help you get it.” I thought that was pretty cool.

S-R: Do you still occasionally work for him?

Young: Yep. This is my 40th year driving combine. And I’m going to plow for him later this afternoon.

S-R: Did any skills you learned from farming transfer to your supervisory positions with the school district?

Young: Steve taught me how to treat people. Anytime I needed to talk to him about something important, he would stop what he was doing and really listen. Then he’d say, “I’ll think about it and get back to you.” I try to be just as good a listener.

S-R: With so many responsibilities, how do you set priorities?

Young: I used to come to work and have my day all planned out. I can’t do that anymore because too many things come up. I get to work around a quarter after 6 in the morning and look at a list I’ve started the day before on a yellow steno pad. Then I check my email for new problems and prioritize what needs to get done first.

S-R: How many hours do you put in?

Young: Most days I don’t get home until 5.

S-R: How many buses in your fleet?

Young: Seven, plus support vehicles. In the morning, we have six routes. One goes to the regional vocational skill center in Spokane. The other five are around here.

S-R: Who handles maintenance?

Young: I do all the minor stuff. Anything major – engines, transmissions – I take to Spokane.

S-R: Do you drive a bus?

Young: I did when I started 29 years ago – a morning-afternoon route and a midday route. Now I’m a last resort because of my other jobs.

S-R: How would you characterize bus driving?

Young: It’s a lot of fun as long as you can relate with kids and handle background noise while you drive. Our district is so small that drivers know every kid by his or her first name and something about them. That helps a ton.

S-R: Do kids show their appreciation?

Young: Yes. When they get off the bus, they say, “Thanks for driving.”

S-R: What if a student causes problems?

Young: We have the school superintendent deal with it.

S-R: Is there a busiest time of year?

Young: Right now is really bad.

S-R: Why?

Young: We don’t have our own football and cross-country teams anymore. So the cross-country kids leave at 5:30 in the morning to go practice in Colfax (20 miles away). Then at 3, we have to get the high school and junior high football players down there. At the same time, we have junior high girls basketball and high school girls volleyball, and only one gym. A lot of times we have to take junior high girls (14 miles) to Steptoe. And the schedules change almost daily.

S-R: Who decides when to call a snow day?

Young: Me. I know which routes are the worst. I usually take the school’s four-wheel-drive pickup out at 3 in the morning, and if I can get to Farmington (12 miles away) and back, probably we’ll have school. Very rarely do we have snow days.

S-R: How are your summers?

Young: Hectic. We go to basketball camps.

S-R: Do you get time off?

Young: I take 10 days off in the fall to hunt near Usk. I love to go out in the woods and just sit there. If I don’t see a deer, I don’t care.

S-R: What if something goes wrong back in Oakesdale?

Young: I have better cellphone service up there than I do here.

S-R: What about summers?

Young: I hear that a lot: “What do you do in the summer?” They think I’m like a teacher. But the six weeks between the end of school and the end of July is when I work the hardest. Then I take the month of August off to drive combine.

S-R: Do you look forward to driving combine?

Young: Oh, I love it.

S-R: Do you have kids?

Young: Three.

S-R: Did they go to school here?

Young: Yes. Now one is a pharmacist, one is an ag loan officer and our youngest is in nursing school.

S-R: Looking back, has anything about being transportation supervisor surprised you?

Young: When I applied for the job, I assumed the mechanical side of it was really important. That’s way down the list. Dealing with staff, students, parents and drivers comes first.

S-R: What has this job taught you about yourself?

Young: (laugh) You’ve got to be a lot more patient than I ever was. Not that I get mad. My problem is when I see something that needs to get done, I want to do it now. And if I can’t do it now, it drives me nuts.

S-R: How much do bus drivers earn?

Young: We start them off at $13.50, and our top pay scale is close to $19 an hour. It’s not lucrative, but it can be a lifetime job if you want.

S-R: Do drivers tend to stick around?

Young: Most have been here longer than I have. One of our drivers is 75. He drove me when I went to school here. He’s a retired farmer, and says, “What else would I do?”

S-R: What are you most proud of?

Young: None of my drivers have ever wanted to quit. That leads me to believe I must be doing OK.

Writer Michael Guilfoil can be contacted at mguilfoil@comcast.net.