A nationwide shortage of school bus drivers means routes are being eliminated, walking boundaries are being expanded and students are facing longer travel and wait times.
In a survey conducted by the
, 87% of respondents said the bus driver shortage was a major problem, and 70% said it was only getting worse.Wake County's school board has proposed paying $17.20 per hour with a sign-on bonus of $1,200 and giving existing drivers a retention bonus of $1,250.The pay boost is helping, at least in some districts.
In Northwest Arkansas, districts increased starting pay and optimized routes and only had a handful of openings this year, compared to last year when principals and administrators pursued commercial driver's licenses so they could drive buses. In Austin Independent School District, which also recently increased driver pay, a spokesperson told Axios all regular routes are covered and the district is not having any problems.Joanna McFarland, CEO and co-founder of HopSkipDrive, told Axios she thinks using smaller vehicles to transport students to school would make the system more efficient.
A new law in Arizona will allow districts to use smaller vehicles that carry between 11 and 15 people to transport students, meaning drivers won't need to hold a commercial driver's license."Drivers with a CDL are in high demand, and we're losing them to big companies like Amazon and Fed Ex," Arizona state Sen. Sine Kerr said in a statement.
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