Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY

A7
U.S. NEWS Monday 24 deceMber 2018
School bus driver shortage creates headaches for districts

pend bus rides for some based contractor to pro- have been able to stay
students and limit rides vide extra drivers when without the guaranteed
for some others. The dis- needed to help transport hours and retirement ben-
trict offered free monthly roughly 4,000 students a efits offered to senior driv-
bus passes on local public day. The district faced a ers. Meyers drives routes
transportation. shortage of 32 drivers this throughout the day for ele-
In Lincoln, Nebraska, some year but has reduced it to mentary-age children and
positions remain unfilled eight, transportation direc- older youths who are in a
even after the local school tor Ryan Robley said. job-skills training program.
district offered $1,000 sign- Kristi Meyers, a Lincoln Pub- In the summer, she drives a
ing bonuses for new hires lic Schools bus driver for six bus carrying farm workers
and a guaranteed six-hour years, said she loves her job to make ends meet.
day for all drivers. Officials and knows every student “It’s a good job, and these
also recruited an Omaha- by name, but wouldn’t are great kids,” she said.q

In this Dec. 20, 2018 photo, a driver walks away from the school
bus parking lot after his morning shift, in Omaha, Neb.
Associated Press
By GRANT SCHULTE district relies on 51 driv-
Associated Press ers — mostly retirees and
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — stay-at-home parents — to
School districts throughout transport roughly 3,400 stu-
the U.S. are struggling to dents to and from school
find school bus drivers, a each day.
challenge that has wors- Even with administrators
ened with low unemploy- and bus mechanics filling
ment and a strong econo- in, the shortage has also re-
my. sulted in fewer routes, more
The problem has become children waiting at each
so severe that some dis- stop, and crowded buses.
tricts are offering sign-up The district needs to hire six
bonuses for new drivers, to eight more drivers, Schul-
while others rely on me- tz said.
chanics, custodians and “We have to do double
other school employees duty,” Schultz said. “Right
to fill the gap. For parents now, I’m driving and do-
and students, the shortage ing my regular job. The
can mean longer waits for mechanics are driving and
a ride to school and more doing their regular jobs —
crowded buses. so, instead of having eight
The shortage stems from a hours a day, I only get
variety of factors, includ- them for four. It’s like pulling
ing limited work hours and a teacher out of the class-
high barriers to entry. Driv- room for half a day and still
ers generally need a com- expecting the same job to
mercial driver’s license, get done.”
which requires training, Pay starts at $19.10 an
sometimes without pay, hour, followed by a $2-an-
said Mike Martin, executive hour raise after six months,
director of the National As- Schultz said, but the district
sociation of Pupil Transpor- struggles to fill open jobs.
tation. Schultz said he’s now con-
“Unless you have some- sidering a “monthly rodeo”
thing to fill in the gaps (be- where potential drivers
tween drives), you can’t could test-drive a bus in a
make the money you need school parking lot.
to support your family,” “We’re just trying anything
Martin said. “These days, we can right now,” he said.
most people are looking In St. Paul, Minnesota, some
for some kind of regular, students are arriving late to
full-time hours.” school because fill-in drivers
In Iowa’s Southeast Polk aren’t familiar with the nor-
Community School District, mal routes. A school district
transportation director in Ypsilanti, Michigan, had
Daniel Schultz said the per- to cancel a day of school
sistent shortage has grown in February because there
worse in the suburban Des weren’t enough substitute
Moines district because drivers to cover for sick driv-
there aren’t as many re- ers.
tired farmers, a group that And in Hawaii last year,
commonly took the job for a driver shortage in Maui
extra income. Now, the forced state officials sus-