Former KM principal retires, turns school bus driver

Jerry Reker was the Kasson-Mantorville High School principal for 17 years and has been retired for six years. He has been involved with education for 40 years and was a principal for 33 years at different schools.
Jerry has been a wrestling referee for 35 years traveling to matches at high schools across the state, the Big Ten and the NCAA tournaments. He has also put in 25 years as a referee at the Minnesota state wrestling tournament but is now doing more evaluating of refs so he won’t be down on the mat himself.  
After a very successful football and wrestling career at Fulda and SW Minnesota State University at Marshall, Jerry got his start in a school system in Iowa. He coached their varsity football and wrestling teams in his first year there and obtained his bus driving license and has continued it ever since.  
He didn’t want to give it up, he said, as drivers have to take a written test every four years and pass a physical each year. Having his bus license has come in handy through the years working with sports events and other student activities.  
The year Jerry retired was during the time of construction at the KM high school so he and retired Middle School Principal Al Hodge, would haul meals from the middle school to the high school lunch program in the school vans each day.
Since he enjoyed being around kids, he said being a bus driver gives him a chance to interact with students of all ages at KM in a different role than as principal. Jerry said he should almost have a recording telling his passengers “Sit Down Please” over and over. That is important, he said, as if he needs to stop quickly they will not be injured.  
He said he wants his students to be respectful, courteous to others and follow the discipline rules just like in the classroom where he fills in as a KM classroom sub when needed.
One troublesome thing that he sees is that drivers will fail to stop when the amber lights come on when the bus will be stopping to let passengers off and this is dangerous. He wants to make sure when students are crossing a street that they are safe and drivers need to observe the traffic rules, he said.  
When the Reker’s downsized and moved to Rochester he said he enjoys seeing cars parked on the main street, like he did growing up in a small community, when he drives into Kasson to start his bus route each school morning.
COVID-19 has changed the bus schedules as now they have fewer kids on each bus so it makes more routes than they used to do. Drivers are using new safety protocols, so they spray, sanitize, wipe down the entire bus after and between each route and then at the end of the day. They also have hand sanitizer available when the kids get on the bus if they want to use it. 
Just recently Jerry had a young student get on the wrong bus and at the end of his route the boy was still on. He found out his name and when he asked the boy where he lived in Kasson, the boy said “at my home.” Jerry did get him on the right bus after that so it turned out OK.  
For many bus drivers it really becomes a way of life as a longtime driver for the Grand Meadow school had his casket painted the school bus colors and it was kept at the funeral home for several years. When the man passed last year, his final wish was granted and he was buried in that casket.
There are about 25 full and part time KM school bus drivers plus three van drivers. The KM school owns its fleet of buses so that is different from some schools that contract a bus company for their routes. For some students, Jerry said, the bus driver may be the first adult they see each morning when they get on and the last adult when they get off the bus so drivers play an important role in their young lives.