As the school year begins, bus driver shortage vexes

DUTCHESS COUNTY —  For several years, school districts around the country have been combatting a shortage of school bus drivers, and this area of Dutchess County is no exception.

It has become especially problematic since the COVID-19 pandemic. Webutuck and Pine Plains central school districts provide their own transportation, while the Millbrook Central School District has used the commercial bus service provided by First Student for the past 35 years.

Employing a service involves contracts and coordinating schedules between the district and the company. When a district has its own service, there are many factors to consider besides scheduling: There’s the vetting and hiring of the drivers, monitors, cleaners and mechanics; obtaining the vehicles and attending to their maintenance; fuel costs; budgeting; and finally, the all-important scheduling. There are also decisions to be made, such the one made by Pine Plains regarding not publishing bus routes for security reasons.

Finding help, especially drivers, is not an easy task. The work hours entail early mornings and mid to late afternoons plus some special events, which make it hard to work a second job in or to use the driving as a second job. Yet payment can vary among employers, so as an only source of income, it can be a problem. What can work in favor of the position is the fact that, for most, summer driving can be an option, and holidays and weekends can mean time off.

Jen Biddinger, communications manager of First Student, stated, “We do have all Millbrook bus routes covered to begin the school year. Because it is important for us to ensure that we remain staffed to provide the best possible service to families, we continue to recruit, hire and train drivers.”

First Student provides paid training. Wages start at $25 an hour with a $5,000 sign-on bonus.

Being responsible for the safety of children is a big undertaking, and the driver typically must have or acquire a commercial driver’s license (CDL), submit to vigorous background checks and may need further certifications.

Kathryn Greene is the head bus driver/dispatcher at Webutuck, and has worked in the district’s transportation department for 23 years. It has a full regular roster but is hiring more drivers to fill in for emergencies. It pays between $21 and $25 per hour, is unionized, and provide union benefits as well as New York state retirement insurance and health insurance. Drivers usually work five to six hours per day.

Pine Plains CSD transportation is headed by Lauren Ross and is advertising on its website for bus drivers, full-time positions with the Pine Plains Central School District, requiring the applicant to possess a CDL Class B license with Passenger, School Bus and Air Brake endorsement, but the district is willing to train. The position guarantees five hours per day with full benefits, a salary commensurate with experience, with per-hour pay ranging from $19.79 - $25.85.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, school bus drivers last year made a mean annual wage of $42,400 but that’s assuming they worked full-time. Many don’t, and make less than $20 an hour.

Shortages have now reached crisis level in many areas of the country, with at least one major shortage in every state in 2023. About half of the nation’s children rely on school buses to get them back and forth between home and school, and it doesn’t matter whether the school is in a city or a rural district.

The driver shortage can have an impact on students’ learning; if they can’t get to school, they can’t learn and that can also has an impact on absenteeism. Lower-income children and high school students are the ones who mostly rely on the services and suffer the most when service is disrupted. In rural areas there may not be public transportation, but most have families have cars. In cities, families may not have cars, but public transportation can hurt if income is low and isn’t feasible for younger children.

Some school districts have managed to use the drivers in the schools when they aren’t driving as monitors, aides, or in other functions so that they can work a full week’s hours and get paid for a full-time position. Others have opted to go out of the business and use services that are already long established in the field.