Many school districts across the country are facing serious bus driver shortages heading into the school year, causing route cancellations and creating havoc with parents’ schedules.
In some areas, school officials are handing out pre-paid gas cards to parents because districts are unable to bus their kids to school.
Fortunately, the driver shortage seems far less dire in some Kitsap County school districts.
Officials at the South Kitsap and Bainbridge Island school districts report they have enough drivers to cover their routes but both districts would prefer to have additional back-ups.
Bainbridge Island
Bainbridge reports having enough drivers to handle the main routes.
“Right now, we are almost spot on,” BISD transportation supervisor Mary Howes said. One route still needs a driver, but Howes is confident that position will be covered by the kickoff of school Sept. 7.
BI officials report they will have enough drivers but could use additional substitutes, too.
“If one [driver] gets COVID or someone calls in sick we are going to have to cancel a route. That’s why I say we are right on the fence. We have just enough to make it happen,” Howes said. “Having a driver or two more would make us feel more comfortable.”
Getting athletes to sporting events off the island and students to field trips is a concern. “We don’t enough drivers or substitutes to make that happen like we had in the past,” Howes said.
To get through the two years of the pandemic BI school officials also had to get creative to ensure students got to and from school. The district had to combine routes to reduce the need for bus drivers. Another efficiency move was to reduce the number of stops on certain routes.
Bainbridge dodged the hardships many other districts around the country have suffered in large part because of their staff, Howes said.
“Honestly, I credit all of my drivers for their willingness and placing the importance of getting our students to school for their in-person education. We have a smaller community, and I just give 100 percent thanks to the drivers that I have.”
At times, the district’s bus dispatcher and mechanics — who all have CDL’s — have filled in as drivers. BI employs 18 drivers and two substitutes. Its school buses transport 1,900 students to seven schools.
South Kitsap
“We are in a much better position this year at this time than we were last year. Right now, we have enough route drivers for all the planned routes,” said Jerry McMullen, South Kitsap School District director of transportation.
At the start of last year, SKSD was unable to attract enough drivers. The district was forced to reduce the number of bus routes by nearly 9 percent, which resulted in inconsistent pickup and dropoff times and packed buses at times COVID-19 rates soared. SKSD also had to let at least one driver go for refusing to get vaccinated, as required by Gov. Jay Inslee’s mandate.
SKSD is in good shape heading into the 2022-23 school year, which begins Sept. 7, because of efficiency moves made last year, McMullen said. “We were able to reduce the amount of drivers by creative dispatching,” he said. Approximately eight routes were combined, eliminating the need for several drivers, he explained.
South Kitsap expects additional drivers will be needed later in the year as more students start taking school buses.
“The unique thing about routing for school bus transportation is you never know how many new students are going to come into the district. You also don’t know how many students that start the year being transported by parents or grandparents and will later require bus transportation,” McMullen said.
A few months into this school year, a number of students changed from having family transporting them to using school buses, McMullen said. “Heading into this year there was a need for 72 routes and that could increase to 75 by the winter months.”
Substitute drivers are still needed to fill in when necessary. “We are looking to hire subs in order to maintain an on-time network,” McMullen said. “You always want as big a substitute bench as you can get, especially in school bus transportation, because we do anticipate adding daily routes as the year progresses. We would then turn to that substitute list for route drivers.”
The district is down seven substitute drivers but there are five going through training. Assuming they all pass, SKSD would still be down a couple of drivers, he said. SKSD employs 77 drivers and six substitute drivers. A fleet of 99 yellow buses is used to transport approximately 7,250 students daily to 15 schools.
Problems can develop
Both school districts are doing better than many nationwide, but local officials are not ready to breathe easy.
“I don’t know if you can ever relax in this business because you never know what the next staffing issue you might have,” SKSD’s McMullen said.
The turnover rate of school bus drivers does not appear to be a significant issue as it is in other areas of employment, such as the restaurant industry. However, those who sign-up to be drivers — many are older — do have particular issues that can impact their ability to come to work.
“Many of our [drivers] are retired from their careers, and they do this either to keep busy or they want to be part of the community. Some have grandchildren and want to participate in their lives, and this is a way to do that,” McMullen said.
Health can also be an issue for some.
“There are other issues they may face that keep them from being available to drive — whether it’s a family member’s elder care issue that they need to attend to or their own health issues,” he said. “You always have to be diligent and aggressive at hiring more drivers because you just don’t know how many you are going to need.”
Attracting new drivers is a problem many school districts face. To tackle that issue, SKSD officials are offering signup bonuses to new drivers who commit to working two years — $3,500 for drivers with a commercial driver’s license and $1,500 for those without a CDL. Hourly rates have also gone up. A beginning route driver is paid $28.66 an hour and a substitute driver $25.79 an hour.
Starting pay for a new employee at Bainbridge is $26.13 for drivers and $23.52 for substitute drivers. Pay for many Kitsap County school bus drivers surpasses the average hourly wage nationwide of $17, according to Salary.com. Those interested in becoming a bus driver can often apply by going to school district websites. Candidates typically need a CDL and need to pass a physical exam, criminal history check, and drug and alcohol testing.
