Joel Feldhan will lead the Beaverton School District's (BSD) bus operation as its new director of transportation.
BSD introduced Feldhan during National Bus Safety Week, the annual October observance focused on school transportation safety. The district said its drivers, dispatchers and support staff rely on hands-on training, daily vehicle inspections and real-time communication to move students safely.
Feldhan is a familiar name in BSD's transportation department. In August 2021, KGW reported on Oregon's first all-electric school buses, and Feldhan was identified as the department's operations supervisor at the time. He told KGW then that the electric buses saved about $3,000 per vehicle per year in maintenance and just under $2,000 a year in fuel costs.
"We love clean vehicles in Beaverton. Beaverton is a very high-tech district. So, any time we can operate something that reduces pollution, reduces emissions, that's a big win for us as well," Feldhan said in the 2021 KGW interview.
The operation Feldhan now oversees is one of the largest in the state. According to the district's transportation page, which was last updated in 2019, BSD runs the largest publicly owned bus fleet in Oregon with more than 300 active school buses.
About 270 drivers serve students each day, and the fleet logs more than 3 million miles a year. Beyond regular routes, the department handles field trips, athletic events and after-school programs.
Those numbers may have shifted since 2019, but the scale gives a sense of the job Feldhan has taken on. The district transports approximately 28,000 students daily, according to the same page.
BSD used Bus Safety Week to spotlight the staff behind that system. The district's announcement did not include details about who Feldhan replaced, when he started in the new role, or any planned changes to transportation operations.
Families with questions about bus routes or safety can reach BSD's transportation department through the district's website.
