Over the span of four decades, Corrine Norris has been behind the wheel of a Harlem School District 122 bus transporting students to and from school. She credited this longevity to a number of incentives: Flexible hours, a strong union and exceptional benefits.
Norris cited the atmosphere as the main reason she remained committed to the district for more than 40 years. “I liked the job and the people I worked with, and I really liked being around the kids,” she said.
The loyalty Norris showed to the school district was born from a mutual respect and support—she got students to school safely and the district looked after her health and welfare.
She initially started driving to purchase new appliances for her home, seeing the job as short-term. However, she grew to realize that she enjoyed being a school bus driver. Since she only spent the mornings and afternoons behind the wheel, she could devote the rest of her day to her children. The position was “an excellent job for mothers.”
When Norris started driving in 1969, she made $12 per hour. When a wage increase was necessary, Norris and other drivers formed a union that earned them higher pay and health benefits from the district. Before hanging up her driving cap this year, her daily rate was $100 an hour. Her retirement also provided a pension that would keep her financially stable.
Norris saw herself as a permanent fixture in the lives of countless children, forming strong camaraderie with coworkers and solid commitment to the school district. When all was said and done, this shared appreciation benefitted everyone involved. “It was the best thing in my life,” said Norris.
Hazardous Conditions
Unfortunately, stories like the one Norris shared are slowly vanishing. The school bus industry is amidst a crisis, one that does not have a straightforward solution—drivers retiring or resigning vastly outpace the number of new drivers taking over these vacant positions.
Districts around the country are hard pressed to tackle the scarcity of replacement drivers. Observers of this crisis have noted that the root causes of this shortage of viable drivers are time and money.
However, the school bus industry has the unique problem of being unable to always offer enough hours or a sufficient salary to their drivers, said Ned Einstein, founder and president of Transportation Alternatives. These two dynamics, Einstein pointed out, have stalled driver replacement efforts. “I wish I had something nice or encouraging to say about it,” said Einstein.
Over the course of Einstein’s 40 years in transportation, he said he has seen bus driver incomes became stagnant and, in extreme cases, shrink. When Einstein began his career, drivers started at a base pay of $7.50 per hour, which would translate to roughly $40 per hour today.
People rushed to join the driving pool with benefits like these. “We had a waiting list, and no turnover,” said Einstein, adding that current wages are scant in comparison.
With issues like these dominating the discussion, he said the school bus industry and school districts are unable to form the lasting relationships with drivers that turn into long-term careers. “Most young drivers take these jobs as stepping-stones to becoming EMTs or paramedics or, ideally, firefighters,” said Einstein.
Einstein isn’t optimistic about reversing the trend. When all this is combined, it leaves students stranded.
The Driver Crunch
While things may not be as dire as Einstein views them, the outlook is not entirely cheerful. Instances of driver shortages share a common thread—low morale, challenging bus routes, low pay, slashed budgets—and the incentives for drivers to remain behind the wheel so far have shown little to alleviate the problem.
Due to a number of retirements and resignations, Jefferson County Public School district in Louisville, Kentucky, needs to fill 75 to 100 driving positions and is offering a $2 an hour incentive. In New Jersey, the transportation manager for the Brick Township School District was forced to slash 31 full-time driving positions because of budgetary reasons. District representatives in Raleigh, North Carolina, reported to school board officials that they lost bus drivers to higher paying jobs elsewhere, and the count for the coming school year was short by 90. Durham School Services’ Indianapolis operation has offered a $1,000 signing bonus, as well as Commercial Driver’s License reimbursement, to entice school bus drivers to drive for school districts. The examples go on and on.
The Frontlines of the Crisis
Ellen Moser is the director of transportation for Perrysburg Public Schools (PPS) in northern Ohio and northwest regional director for the Ohio Association for Pupil Transportation. PPS, like 62 percent of the districts nationwide, has been constrained by the driver shortage. In the nearly 20 years Moser has been in transportation for PPS, she said she has never experienced a driver scarcity this grim.
Presently, there are five open routes for the upcoming school year that may or may not be filled. “In the past, I always had someone waiting to fill the next vacancy. It hasn’t always been easy to balance routes and field trips with my low sub pool, but now it’s close to impossible,” said Moser.
The school system is comprised of four elementary schools, one junior high and one high school that serve roughly 5,000 students. Moser attributed the local driver shortage to an increase in student enrollment at PPS partnered with the retirement of drivers. PPS bus drivers currently range in age from 30 to 70 years old. Due to a change in the rules for retiring, many older drivers are required to leave their positions by 2017.
On top of mandatory retirement, there is the matter of benefits, or the complete lack of them. Moser reported that PPS pays its drivers one of the highest rates in the region: $20 per hour. Health and dental insurance is extended to PPS employees who work 30 hours or more each week. On a weekly average, PPS bus drivers only work 22 hours. “I’ve had other staff leave for full-time work in the private sector because the position offer health benefits,” said Moser.
This deficiency also hits potential new hires. “Benefits seem to be desired by most looking for a job, sometimes more than the wages. I have single moms and retired individuals who would love to have some kind of benefit package,” said Moser.
The shortage has stressed the existing driving pool to the breaking point. Since Ohio law requires that students be transported from home to school and vice versa, Moser has gotten creative to accommodate the shortage. “When I’ve exhausted all of my available substitutes, I assign my dispatcher and two mechanics to drive routes. I’ve also asked neighboring districts for help,” said Moser.
The district is mobilizing, but many of the fixes are only temporary, Moser noted, and not the long-term solutions that are necessary. PPS has reached out to local media to publicize open bus driver positions for those who already have commercial drivers licenses with the school bus/passenger bus endorsements and pre-service certificate from the Ohio Department of Education.
A Rough Road Ahead
Meanwhile, Corrine Norris is glum about the shortage gripping the nation. At the local level, Norris said she believes the union she helped build and expand isn’t as strong as it used to be, leaving bus drivers exposed to changes in benefits that drivers relied on. While the district is hiring new drivers, Norris knows that “they’re aware of the job, but they have no clue as to what the job actually entails,” she said.
However, she said she remains confident that the situation will eventually turn around, especially as driver shortages are nothing new to the industry. Currently, she is using her retirement to give back to the district that helped her in so many ways. She is training and mentoring new bus drivers, as well as advising existing drivers, hoping to instill everyone she interacts with the same devotion to the students and district she had during her expansive career.
“It’s in the working details and I need to show what they need to be aware of to get students safely to school,” said Norris. “Most important is that you have to know your kids.”
