NC Newsline–The first test of the new school year rolls out on Monday as thousands of students wait anxiously for their designated school bus to pick them up and transport them to school on time. It’s such a routine event, few students or parents truly appreciate the carefully choreographed work that has happened behind the scenes leading up to the first run on the opening week.
The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) has been working throughout the summer to recruit and fill its pipeline of bus driver candidates. North Carolina’s largest school district has 605 drivers ready to get behind the wheel for the opening of school, with 22 bus driver candidates who signed up for training as recently as early August.
Bob Snidemiller, senior director of transportation for WCPSS, said they are continuing to market the positions.
“We’re advertising via TV, radio, social media. We do have a dedicated HR recruitment person which I think has been very helpful in staying on top of those who make contact with us to become our candidates, who then attend class and become bus drivers,” Snidemiller said at a recent work session.
The extra recruitment push comes as state legislators passed a stopgap budget this summer that did not included raises for teachers, support staff, or state employees.
Wake County, working from the county budget, is offering every bus driver the opportunity to earn up to $4,000 a year in bonuses.
Drivers who ended the last school year in good standing and come back to Wake County for the beginning of this traditional calendar school year will see a $1,000 retention bonus in their September pay. The district is also offering drivers a $2,000 “perfect attendance” bonus that’s paid at $200 per month.
If that seems excessive, consider the plight the school district found itself in just two years ago.
The vacancy rate was so high that Wake County had to ask parents in the public schools to arrange for their own transportation for their children.
While some families were forced to get up earlier and drive their children to school or coordinate an impromptu neighborhood carpool, there’s little doubt the hiccup caused some students to miss classes or show up late.
This fall Wake County will be managing 564 bus routes with seven additional routes tacked on to support four new schools in the district.
That amounts to nearly 90,000 registered riders that the bus drivers are expected to get safely from their bus stop to school and back again. Snidemiller said about 70% of those students actually ride daily. Others may arrange alternate transportation if they are staying after the school day ends to participate in sports or extracurricular events.
Drivers on average make more than six runs per bus.
“We are using our buses very, very efficiently again this year. That means our buses will arrive at [more than] six campuses every morning and every afternoon. We have 159 riders on average assigned to each bus,” said Snidemiller.
The school district has also contracted with six vendors to transport a projected 3,600 students within the county who fall into the category of special needs, pre-K, or who are experiencing homelessness.
Keeping all those vehicles running is another issue unto itself.
All buses start the new school year having gone through a preventative maintenance program, with 95% of the fleet operable.
Snidemiller says it’s “typical” to have about five percent of the buses are in need of repair at any given time.
This year the county will be operating 15 propane buses in an on-going program to reduce fuel costs with a cleaner operating engine.
Wake County has a vacancy rate of 25% of fleet mechanics. Last year, the vacancy rate topped 30%.
“It’s slow, but at least it’s moving in the right direction,” Snidemiller told school board members last week.
The transportation director knows the metric most parents care about is safety – ensuring that their child is protected when they climb on that big yellow bus and find a seat.
Snidemiller says that’s one figure in which Wake County is ‘off the chart’ compared to other large school districts.
“We travel 13 million miles in our buses every year and we average 135,000 miles between accidents.” he said. “We wish it were more. We’re working for it to be more.”
This Monday, schools on the traditional calendar year begin with bus drivers playing a crucial role in helping Wake County’s schools achieve a top goal: improving consistent attendance.
“We want every student to feel seen, challenged, and inspired. That has to start with students being in school every day, on time, and ready to learn,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert P. Taylor.
