After sitting in the driver’s seat for 20 years with the Averill Park Central School District, bus driver Michael Lascala is officially retiring.
“I’ll miss working,” he said. “I never took time off.”
Lascala joined AP after spending 31 years working for Freihofer’s. A neighbor told him that the District was looking for bus drivers, so he went to the school and filled out an application.
“I tried it and I liked it,” he said. “I always drove a big truck, and we have an RV, so it didn’t take long to get used to driving a bus.”
Lascala always tried to drive the same route each year so he could get to know families and students. For seven-to-eight years, he drove special needs students.
Not one for standing still, Lascala expects to be back behind the wheel at some point.
“I know that the District really needs bus drivers, so I might work now and then as a sub,” he said. “I like coming to work and I’ve told a lot of people to give it a try. I’ve brought quite a few people here. I enjoyed working for Averill Park.”
