BY FRANK DANIELS IV
Staff Writer
With many students settling into the school year, continued bus driver shortages remain a barrier for dozens of students and provide ongoing consternation for Moore County Schools transportation personnel.
A raise in driver pay has bolstered interest in the position, but training times and state staffing shortages mean it may be some time before new applicants can fill route vacancies.
In early August, the Moore County Board of Education approved a driver pay increase, raising the hourly rate up to $24.15 per hour. Schools Superintendent Jenny Purvis noted at the time that the district started the year with 12 fewer drivers, many having left in recent years due to retirement or health reasons. Since the pay increase, the district has received 29 applications for new drivers, compared with six throughout the summer before the pay bump.
During the board’s September work session on Monday, Transportation Director Jason Nelson said it can take up to 4½ months for an applicant to go through the licensing process. Currently the district employs 62 drivers. That’s up from the start of the year but still well below the goal of 80 drivers.
“We started the school year with 58 drivers,” Nelson said. “We’re up to 62, with some of those being temporary solutions. People have come back to help, so they may not last all year, but at least fill in a seat while we work through these processes.”
He said there are seven routes that do not have a dedicated driver, so the department is utilizing available drivers to cover those routes. Sometimes, that looks like the driver circling back for a second route after completing their regular route, or running both elementary and high school routes.
With around 3,500 students to transport each day, Nelson said his department is “thinking outside the box,” at times assigning students to different buses with longer routes when it is feasible.
“These adjustments can result in some students arriving late to school,” Nelson said. “Currently, an average of 76 students per day arrive late due to transportation delays, with those delays averaging approximately 12 minutes.”
Nelson said that in Moore County, new school bus drivers must begin the licensing process through sponsorship from his department. Following the sponsorship, an applicant must pass the required background checks; complete entry-level driver training and classroom instruction; pass CDL knowledge tests and obtain a commercial learner’s permit; and maintain eligibility for at least two weeks. After achieving a commercial learner’s permit, the driver must undergo behind-the-wheel school bus training, skills testing and complete the final licensing and certification.
In the past it could have taken less than two months to onboard a new driver, but the NC Department of Motor Vehicles no longer has a dedicated trainer serving the region. Nelson said with that shortage, the entry-level training and classroom instruction can take an additional four to eight weeks.
Of those 29 new applicants, one was previously licensed and is scheduled to begin a route next week. Nelson said another 15 are on track to complete the onboarding process, with 11 enrolled for the classroom portion of the process. Seven of those applicants are scheduled to begin instruction in two weeks. He also said the district will see four drivers begin behind-the-wheel training this week — three who will drive yellow buses and one who will drive the district’s white activity buses.
Nelson said applicants are initially brought on as a bus safety assistant, allowing them to gain an understanding of the job in the weeks before classroom instruction.
“I’ve had some walk away before they ever went through class — which is good, because if this wasn’t what they wanted to do, we don’t waste our spot in the classroom,” Nelson said. “We can try to move someone else to that spot who is dedicated and wants to go through it. If they’re willing to come in for that, we do bring them on and get them employed, get them started and try to hold them so that they’re already working. They’re our employee, and then we can, hopefully, retain them through the whole process. They learn a lot just being there to see the process every day.”
Beginning this week, the district will be increasing advertising to bring in more applicants. Purvis said each school principal has been provided collateral materials outlining the increased pay — upward of $20,000 per year — and commensurate retirement benefits a current Moore County Schools classified staff member can gain through becoming a bus driver.
“Our drivers and transportation staff are doing an exceptional job working within the resources currently available to get students to and from school safely each day while minimizing disruptions for families,” Nelson said. “We will continue actively recruiting and training additional drivers as filling the open positions remains the best long-term solution for providing the most consistent and efficient transportation service possible.”
Contact Frank Daniels IV at (910) 693-2486 or frank@thepilot.com.
