My daughter in NOVA said the kids bus was 1/2 hour late picking them up then almost an hour late dropping them off in the afternoon. Other parents were all pissed off with some calling the police saying their kids must have been abducted. The problem is they can't hire enough drivers. (Or my feeling, they do too much bussing and should get away from mega schools and build more, small schools in neighborhoods.)
She said drivers get paid $21 an hour, excellent benefits, and every holiday there is off with pay, and still can't find enough.
What I don't know is if they get paid full time like teachers for 40 hours a week or just when driving? And do they get paid all year including Summer, or just during school?

You literally couldn't pay me enough to drive a school bus.

Drivers have NO control over the kids and any attempt to maintain order on the bus would result in you getting fired, or worse.

When I went to school in the 50's and 60's, the bus driver was like the captain of a ship: His word was law, and if he kicked you off the bus, that was that.

Of course, back then, most parents would kick your ass when you got home for getting kicked off the bus. Nowadays, they have a lawyer on speed dial.

Some get put through CDL school and get a passenger endorsement along with it.

I could drive a school bus all day, as long as it was empty.

27.00 hr full time here in rural Southern Mi and still can't hire enough .

“Mav, you have the number of that truck-driving school we saw on TV? Truck Master, I think it is. I might need that.“ Goose

I'd think any more there'd be a video camera aimed back at the students so it'd be easy for the school to discipline any serious troublemakers. Maybe not the best of jobs but then ever deal with the public?

$22 plus in Loudoun and $2,500 sign on bonus.

Wow.

Locally the school district has contracted all transportation requirements to a private vendor. Daily bus transportation, athletic events, field trips, etc.

The vendor hires drivers on an hourly wage (all part-time positions) with little or nothing in benefits. The wages are pretty good, compared to many other options, but it is strictly a gig for those looking to have a secondary income stream. No career possibilities.

School cafeterias here are similarly operated by contract vendors, as well as custodial functions.

The history of this development is really quite simple. Unions representing school district employees pushed, and pushed, and pushed until all degrees of reason had been exceeded, then they pushed some more. Now all those union jobs are gone and grandmothers or retirees are performing those functions.

Some folks are hoping for a similar change in dealing with the teachers union. Much greater political influence involved, and elected school board positions have been largely taken over by retired educators, so there are different dynamics involved.

Local news had a similar story here. Big need for drivers.
Take a look at your large school buildings. Then compare them to your local jail or prison.
They look almost exactly alike.
And how do both transport their populations?
Buses.

Could I drive a school bus, yes. Would I drive a school bus, hell no.

I would last just one run and be fired after I told a special little brat to stop making a scene, sit the fuck down and shut up.

Perhaps some of those school administrators should pitch in and drive a school bus to help out. There are many in most modern school districts.

I wouldn't do it for 30 bucks an hour.

About 10 years ago a guy at work retired in his 50s and got bored after a couple years and tried the school bus driver thing. The school bus drivers there were not paid during school holidays or for teachers' days, nor the Summer months. The benefits were not very good. He didn't care since he didn't need a full time job or any job for that matter. Money was not an issue with this guy. What he hated about the job was the whiny ass parents and administrators not backing up school bus drivers when parents complain.

One of my coworkers was saying a couple days ago how his area is having trouble finding enough school bus drivers. I said I could do that job, if they put a soundproof booth around the driver and shackled the kids into their seats.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
(Or my feeling, they do too much bussing and should get away from mega schools and build more, small schools in neighborhoods.)

This ^^^^^, and there ought to be a minimum distance from the school before a child is allowed to ride the bus. I watched one bus depart elementary school grounds, go a hundred yards or so down the road to the first intersection, turn, go another hundred yards or so, and drop a child off. I kid you not. Beautiful weather, sidewalks all the way.

No crossing guards. That was very telling. No crossing guards at an intersection no more than a football field away from an elementary school.

It would also help if they put sidewalks in, everywhere, again, so kids could walk to/from school without having to be in the road.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
She said drivers get paid $21 an hour, excellent benefits, and every holiday there is off with pay, and still can't find enough.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
You literally couldn't pay me enough to drive a school bus.

There is not enough money in the entire world to get me into any capacity with the public school system. I'm dead serious.

"It would also help if they put sidewalks in, everywhere, again, so kids could walk to/from school without having to be in the road."

THEY don't install sidewalks, property owners are billed for installation.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
THEY don't install sidewalks, property owners are billed for installation.

I was using "they" in the amorphous, generic sense of the word "they."

Yes, I know how it works. Please excuse the assumption, but it sounds like you're opposed to sidewalks being required. Property owners are also billed for roads, road repairs, upgrades, etc. Should we do-away with those for that reason?

If you ("you," generic) want kids to stop being so dependent upon school buses, they have to have a way to safely walk between home and school.

From kindergarten through high school I'd almost be willing to bet I could count on my two hands the number of times we were given rides, and have a finger or two left over. It rarely happened. It just so-happened that, whether grade, junior, or high school, it was always about a one mile walk, each way.

I don't even recall ever even seeing school buses in our neighborhood.

But we did have sidewalks all the way, on both sides of every road and street. And, wonder-of-wonders, residents actually cleared them of snow and slush promptly.

School bus? We had to walk to school. Ten miles. Up hill both ways.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
School bus? We had to walk to school. Ten miles. Up hill both ways.

In the snow.

But seriously, folks, I did walk to school K-4. One room country school house, complete with outhouses, 1/2 mile from home.

School bus drivers need to be paid many times more than what they receive now .They transport some of our most precious cargo but get no support when something happens because "little jane or little johnny" act out and refuse to behave themselves. Even if every bus had full time audio and video there would be those that would refuse to believe what would be recorded. Now back in the day our bus drivers were looked up to but now not so much in todays time when if you looked at some of these "blankety blanks" or raised your voice to them you would be in all kind of legal trouble. ..................... drill sgt.

We were bussed in during a couple years of my school days, we moved around a lot though so sometimes lived closer to school than others. We did walk every year of high school 2 miles one way - winter, spring and fall (north Ohio).

I'd never drive a school bus and my last time on one was in the early eighties I'm sure civility has lessened appreciably since, not that it was great even then.

As far as sidewalks go, we walked a few years in elementary school and I don't ever recall being bothered by a lack of sidewalks as a youngster. Within a block or so of school there were crossing guards, after that you were on your own.