When buses roll out for the Brookhaven School District nextweek, there will be a new man in charge of the transportationsystem.

Steve Huey, 56, assumed his role as the district’stransportation director July 1 following the retirement of GabrielTerrell, who had been with the district more than 20 years.

Huey transitioned from teaching to administration in thedistrict, leaving a technology discovery classroom at BrookhavenHigh School to take the post.

“Steve has demonstrated his ability to work with the childrenand the parents of the district while he was a teacher at the highschool,” said Lea Barrett, BSD superintendent. “He also bringsexperience outside education, and I think that makes him very wellsuited for this position.”

Because Huey will be heading the department full-time, he willbe available to drivers and parents the full school day, saidBarrett – another bonus to having Huey oversee the office.

“He understands that we want to take care of our students, sosafety will be big with him,” Barrett said.

Huey holds an education degree from Mississippi College and amaster’s degree in administration from Jackson StateUniversity.

Raised in the Monticello area, Huey taught for one year afterearning his bachelor’s degree. His teaching career was interruptedas he was drafted into the Army. He spent 1971-1973 at Fort Sill,Okla.

When he got out out of the service, Huey was seeking employmentand found a position with the local Social Security Administrationoffice. He and his wife, Terri, have been in Brookhaven ever since.He worked for the office for 25 years.

“My wife and I knew the minute we moved here that Brookhaven waswhere we wanted to live and raise our children,” Huey said.

Huey left the Social Security position to pursue a career inacademia. He spent seven years with the Brookhaven School Districtas a technology discovery teacher. He also held golf coachingduties for the past two years.

This school year, Huey will juggle multiple responsibilities asthe transportation director, golf coach and district testingcoordinator for K-8.

“I’m excited about the new challenges and the opportunity,” Hueysaid. “I look forward to helping the district maintain a safetransportation fleet. And it will be a busy (during) spring withgolf and testing.”

To prepare for the transportation post, Huey has worked closelywith secretary Sue Errington to learn the ins and outs of thedepartment. He also attended a MA Pupil Transportation seminar inJune along with district mechanics Greg McNulty and JohnnyLove.

In addition, he has been working to make sure the 35 full-timebus drivers and one substitute have the endorsements andcertifications needed to drive for the school year and that thereare enough drivers to fill all routes.

“We have enough drivers to barely fill our routes,” Huey said,”and we’re looking for people who are interested in beingsubstitutes.”

Huey said all the preparations are to ensure that things runsmoothly throughout the year.

“It’s all leading back to safety,” Huey said. “That’s our numberone priority.”