By Sherry Larson
People’s Defender
Most kids’ school day begins and ends with a bus driver. School bus drivers are the first faces kids see in the morning and the last ones they see in the afternoon at drop-off. A bus driver can set the mood for a child’s day with a friendly greeting or an encouraging word. Adams County Ohio Valley School District Director of Human Resources Greg Grooms adds, “How they are treated on that bus is essential to a kid’s day.”
The Adams County Ohio Valley School District has some great bus drivers working hard to serve the students. And the District needs additional dedicated drivers to join their team. Grooms stated, “CBS News reported that 86% of schools do not have enough applicants for bus drivers.” Transportation Director Melissa Baker said, “It’s not an easy job.” But she continued to explain that it’s an excellent job for someone who likes children, wants to stay close to home, and enjoys extra time with their family. It’s also a good fit for retirees and farmers.
Currently, the District is running 36 routes, and they need more. In 2019/20, they lost 13 drivers. Baker stated, “Some of them were able to absorb and combine with other routes, but some of them we were not. Then, COVID hit, and that’s when we decided to do dual routing because you had to separate kids due to the COVID rules.”
Baker said that the District only has six bus driver substitutes, and her goal is to have 20. The aim is to get back to single routing. She estimates the need for between 13 and 15 bus drivers to do so. Baker said, “We can reassess those routes. We’ve combined as much as we can combine right now.”
Cost is driving the appeal to return to single routing. Since distancing rules are no longer in place, the district must consider high fuel costs and general wear and tear of the buses. Baker explained, “It’s taken a toll on our bus fleet.” She continued, “Basically, everything has doubled or tripled in price.” And “Our bus drivers are on the road for a long time.”
Grooms added, “Dual routing has created problems with our evening activities.” Drivers need help getting back from their routes to cover extracurriculars. He explained that running single or dual routing would significantly impact planning for next year’s schedule. Baker said, “Due to the dual routing, we have not been able to take as many days field trips with our elementary. We’ve heard a lot of concern from the principals and teachers.”
ACOVSD wants to accommodate bus drivers’ needs as much as possible. Many drivers can keep their bus at home since their routes are close to where they live. It’s also cost-effective for the district and the drivers to save on fuel.
The District offers incentives for qualified and committed candidates to join the transportation team. The District pays for their training up to $500 and the CDL test. The classroom training is 16 hours, and the behind-the-wheel is 12. New drivers are in class for four days. The District provides a $1000 sign-on bonus to new bus drivers (new hires must drive at least 90 days in the school year to qualify for the bonus).
The starting pay for a bus driver is $16.93 an hour. The bus driver’s contract guarantees at least seven hours of payment a day, including full benefits. Grooms said, “You’re going to get seven hours of pay for possibly five hours of work, and you’ll get dental, vision, and a health care plan, personal days, accumulation of sick days, and summers off.” Drivers receive pay throughout the summer because of stretch pay. Any driver working over seven hours a day gets extra hours or overtime pay. Drivers can earn additional income by covering extracurricular activities.
If you are interested in applying for the bus driver position, please contact Melissa Baker at (937) 544-5586 or melissa.baker@ovsd.us. Applicants will complete a background check and a driver’s abstract. They also must have a GED or high school diploma.
Baker concluded, “It takes the right person to get behind that wheel. And I know there are people out there. I hope this will draw them in, and we get 20 right away. I’ll be so thankful.”