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Southfield district honors plumber who fixed water-main break and names First Student driver partner of the month
Summary
Southfield Public School District recognized a master plumber for quickly repairing a water-main break at a high school and celebrated a First Student bus driver as partner of the month for February 2025, citing safety, reliability and prompt response that prevented a missed school day.
Southfield Public School District recognized district maintenance staff and a transportation partner during a meeting in February 2025 after an early-morning water-main break at a local high school.
Joe Corris, the district’s chief operating officer, nominated Doug Cook, the district’s master plumber, for employee of the month for leading the response to the break at Southfield A and T High School. "He took it upon himself to orchestrate getting the water turned off by the city, getting a subcontractor in here to tear up cement, asphalt, dig the hole, find the leak, repair the leak, get the water turned back on by the city, and he did all of that by 08:30, 09:00 that night," Corris said. He added the quick repair kept the district from missing a day of school.
The district’s superintendent, identified in the meeting as Dr. Green, thanked transportation staff and drivers for their role in student safety and daily operations, saying drivers "are not only the ones responsible for getting my children here safely, but you set the tone every morning. Your first face they see and the last face they see when they get off the bus." The superintendent presented a partner recognition as part of that acknowledgement.
Maurice Johnson, location manager for First Student, the company that provides student transportation for the district, nominated Jimmy Driver as partner of the month for February 2025. Johnson said he nominated Driver "because of his customer service, his safety record and his performance," and noted Driver has been with First Student "approximately 7 and a half years" with no accidents or safety incidents reported.
The recognitions recorded in the meeting were ceremonial: the transcript contains no formal motions or votes tied to the awards. The district praised the quick facilities response and the reliability of transportation staff as factors that helped keep students safe and schools open following the infrastructure failure.
