Dallas ISD teams up with DART

Dallas ISD and Dallas Area Rapid Transit launched a High School Student Bus Maintenance Externship Program. It runs through the district's Automotive Technician Program of Study.

Fourteen seniors, real technicians

Fourteen Dallas ISD high school seniors will work alongside DART bus maintenance technicians for the whole semester, getting hands-on experience in place of classroom theory.

“Our students grow the most when they’re in the real world solving real problems”

What they will work on

Students focus on vehicle inspections, engine fundamentals and climate system maintenance, the core skills of keeping a transit fleet on the road.

A fix for a mechanic shortage

DART says there aren't enough diesel maintenance mechanics in the industry. It is opening its fleet and its staff to students to help build that workforce.

“to cultivate the next generation of diesel maintenance mechanics”

Training the people, not just DART

DART Chairman Randall Bryant said the partnership lets the agency get ready for the future and train the people who will run it.

“Are we simply preparing DART for the future, or are we preparing the people who will lead DART into the future?”

A career at $33 an hour

One student told Dallas ISD's Ben Jones that the technicians said the work starts at $33 an hour. He saw it as a real paycheck and a lasting career.

“I'm not gonna get a job out of this. I'm gonna get a career.”