Fort Mill School district seeks more bus drivers

The Fort Mill School District is facing a shortage of school bus drivers.

The district wants to quickly hire more than a dozen drivers – a task that’s proving easier said than done, officials said.

Transportation officials are working to improve bus ridership and limit delays, particularly in middle and high school caused by the domino effect when elementary school buses run late, Assistant Superintendent Tommy Schmolze said. He discussed the issue with the Fort Mill School Board during an Oct. 6 meeting.

“We’ve grown nearly 800 students over the course of last year into this year,” district spokeswoman Kelly McKinney said later in the week. “So that is effectively a full school.”

District Transportation Supervisor Marc Vigeant said the issue isn’t just in Fort Mill.

“Whenever we meet, the same conversation comes up,” he said of his colleagues across the state. “There are not enough drivers, they can’t keep drivers.”

It’s a problem that’s come about for several reasons, he said, including the pay. While it’s above minimum wage at $10.73 per hour, many consider the pay too low. Vigeant said his team is working to draft a proposal to increase the drivers’ pay, though he said he’s not yet prepared to make the amount public.

If approved, the new wage won’t take effect until the beginning of next school year.

Vigeant also said the hours make it difficult to attract drivers. Drivers work from 6 a.m. until 9 a.m., then again from 1:45-4:45 p.m. Vigeant said the positive side here is, it’s a six-hour day that still offers full time benefits.

Driving a bus can sometimes be a pretty high-stress work environment, Vigeant said. Drivers have to supervise anywhere from 70 to 80 students at a time.

“In our case we have a pretty benign group of kids,” he said.

Vigeant said he needs to hire 13 drivers, but even if those positions are filled, he still has nine others out on medical leave.

Soon, 20 new buses, financed when voters approved a recent bond issue, will arrive, leaving the district with more buses than drivers.

Schmolze said staff is looking at possibly recruiting university education students for part-time driver positions.

This school year, the district staggered bell times on a three-tiered system to ease bus congestion, Schmolze said.

Elementary schools now start 10 minutes earlier than last year and dismiss five minutes earlier and middle schools and high schools begin and dismiss 10 minutes earlier. This change ensures all buses are at the high schools by 3:45 p.m. and eliminates double loads, Schmolze said.

The three-tiered system also allowed the district to allocate an additional 17 buses for middle school and 13 for high school, Schmolze said.

The former two-tiered bell system caused over-crowded buses and required double loads, a problem that only worsens as Fort Mill continues to grow, Schmolze said. In 2014-2015, the district was transporting 7,500 students. That number grew by 802 students this year, with the majority in high school.

Transportation is also impacted by the district’s policy of returning to school any riders in kindergarten to second grades if an authorized guardian for that student is not present at the bus stop. The district also transports students to day care centers, a courtesy that is becoming difficult due to high ridership, Schmolze said.

Schmolze suggested the board review policy change considerations such as only providing transportation to day care centers within the school attendance area, only when it can be done at dismissal and would not require a double load.

As ridership increases, Schmolze said possible solutions are to create new routes using new district buses, free up more middle school routes and find new drivers to operate additional buses.

The transportation team has posted a job flier around the community to recruit people. The district provides training so people without a commercial driver’s license can qualify for a position.

One thing is for sure, McKinney said – it takes a special person to drive a bus.

“Education starts with a bus ride.” she said, “Picking up students sets the tone for the day and sets the tone for the afternoon as well.”

Other news

The Fort Mill School District reported $8.3 million in general fund revenue and $11.4 million in expenditures as of Aug. 31, Leanne Lordo, assistant superintendent of finance and operations, said at last week’s meeting.

The district received $290,000 from impact fees in September.

Attendance

The district gained 27 students from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1.

Orchard Park Elementary School won the attendance award for September with 97.98 percent, Superintendent Chuck Epps said.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Fort Mill School district seeks more bus drivers."