HANCOCK COUNTY — A bus driver shortage around the state is affecting many school districts, including Indianapolis Public Schools. Officials there, tired of dealing with the lack of drivers, hired a bus service a couple of years ago to combat the shortage.
While things are not quite that bad locally, many county school districts could use more drivers to either grow their fleet or for fill in roles when a driver is sick or off.
Early this school year, officials with Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation had to call a few audibles when they fell short a few drivers.
The lack of drivers caused students from Weston Elementary and Greenfield Intermediate School to be delivered about 30-45 minutes later than normal on a recent Thursday and Friday afternoon as a result of a driver being out with no replacement.
Director of Transportation for Greenfield-Central schools, Todd Prazeau, is working hard to make sure that issue doesn’t happen again. He told district officials that they had two drivers in the pipeline who are close to being able to support the transportation department as fully licensed bus drivers.
“After these trainees get behind the wheel, we will be staffed,” Prazeau said a couple of days ago in an email to district officials.
The district pays their drivers $125 per day starting out which equates to $27.80 per hour. They also offer a sign-on bonus, paid training incentive and offer other work within the district until their bus training is complete.
“It doesn’t surprise me that it’s challenging to find great drivers,” Prazeau said. “It takes a special person to drive the bus as well as set the tone for students as their leader to and from school.”
Prazeau noted he’s interviewed many drivers, but due to how long it takes to get the specialized license and training, people don’t want to wait that long for a paycheck.
“One item that always causes concern as far as getting drivers started is the amount of time it takes to get going,” Prazeau said. “The split shift presents challenges for people as well. Bus driving is something that really has to ‘fit’ you and your family’s needs.”
Still, Prazeau remains optimistic and noted that they’re getting on track and are headed in the right direction of being able to serve the district without issue.
“I’m very proud of where we are as a department and for the direction we’re headed,” he said.
Craig Smith is the director of communications and community outreach for Southern Hancock County Community School Corporation. He said, while their transportation department has enough drivers to get the job done, they too are like most districts in that they could use another one or two backup drivers or full-time drivers if anyone is interested.
“We are definitely in the same boat,” Smith said. “We are actively marketing to get the word out that we too need bus drivers and subs.”
Officials with Southern Hancock pay their bus drivers $31 an hour.
“We are fully staffed,” Smith said. “We just need substitute drivers for when they are out. When we are short, our other transportation staff has to fill in as needed.”
The need for more bus drivers is also strong in the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation as officials there say they are looking to hire two to four additional substitute bus drivers.
“Our substitute bus drivers frequently become full-time bus drivers with their own routes,” said Maria Bond, director of community relations for the district.
Officials with Mt. Vernon just recently held an open interview job fair for applicants interested in becoming a bus driver, custodian, food service personnel or instructional assistant who were guaranteed an interview.
“We are hoping this event will help fill those substitute bus driver positions and more,” Bond said.
The superintendent of Community School Corporation of Eastern Hancock County, George Philhower, noted they’re fortunate in that their district is not as big as the others in the county and many of their students are transfer students who get dropped off at their schools.
“We are currently running a full fleet,” Philhower said. “Our drivers only run one route per day, so this is likely lower than other districts where drivers run multiple routes each day.”
Anyone interested in driving a school bus in your local community must know, as of Oct. 1, 2005, all drivers operating a school bus must have the school bus “S” endorsement on their license.
To obtain the school bus “S” endorsement all applicants must successfully complete all applicable testing requirements, including the written knowledge for passenger and school bus, obtain a CDL learner’s permit with an “S” endorsement, and pass a skills test in a representative vehicle (school bus) to obtain the school bus “S” endorsement.
All school bus drivers must also be at least 21 years of age, complete an expanded criminal background check and a child protection index check. Prospective drivers must also pass a pre-employment drug screen and must also pass any random drug and alcohol tests after employment.
