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Where the school-bus routers wrestle with the logistics, it falls on the drivers and attendants to keep students from unruly behavior that can get them barred from the bus and send routers back to the drawing board.

Drivers said the mantra starts the first time each student sets foot on the bus: Respect, when given, is earned.

"I set my rules, that's all I do. I get along good with them, they get along good with me. And they follow those rules. That's what I tell ‘em — you want respect, you got to give it," said Charles Montgomery, who has driven for county schools for more than a decade, nearly all of them through Watkins Mill High, Montgomery Village Middle and Stedwick Elementary.

Before Ron McGrew landed his gig driving buses for schools in the Poolesville, the retired firefighter was more used to handling fire engines and ambulances.

The 63-year-old is just fine that his decade of bus-driving lacked for sirens and high-speed chases — better to watch entire sets of siblings come of age.

"It's nice because there's a couple kids I've hauled who've graduated and work at Selby's [Market in Poolesville] and I come in and they say, ‘Hey Mr. Ron!'" said the Clarksburg resident. "It's nice when they remember; it makes you feel good."

Poolesville's 12 bus drivers keep an eye out for each other as well as their students. They meet at McDonald's for coffee between routes and help out if another driver gets in a jam. He also knows most of his riders' parents and talks to them if their child is acting out.

Gaining the trust of his students has been the key to success on the job, McGrew said.

"It's all about respect. If you respect them, they respect you," McGrew said. "… I've got a good bunch of kids in Poolesville."

Skip Johansen's reward for three decades behind the wheel comes each year like clockwork.

The winter holidays now just might be the Laurel resident's favorite time to drive. Each year, he said, he adorns his bus with holiday cards brought by students from Paint Branch High, Benjamin Banneker Middle and Burtonsville Elementary schools.

"Playing a small part in helping students get a good education is a great feeling," said Johansen, 54. "Even though I'm just a bus driver, I'm still a piece of the puzzle."