Wake County Schools attempts to alleviate bus driver shortage
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Wake County Schools can't find enough people to drive its school buses.
In all, 75,000 Wake County students ride the bus to and from school every day, but the district is short 90 drivers, which it needs to make sure students get to school on time.
That's why the district has been holding a job fair this week, but attendance hasn't been very high.
"We're looking for someone who has a good driving record," said Wake County Schools Safety Recruitment Coordinator Tanya Rich. "Someone who has a love for children. Someone who is going to be punctual, who is going to be someone who comes to work every day, who loves the job they're going to be doing."
So far, the district is having trouble finding those people.
"We've gotten some truck drivers this morning with lots of driving experience," said Rich. "We've got some young people coming in -- excited to get started in the work force."
The district said the pay is the problem.
"Our starting pay is $12.18 an hour for starting drivers and that doesn't always compete with CAT or some of the bigger companies," said Rich.
The district requested a 3 percent increase in bus driver pay this year. County commissioners funded most, but not all, of the entire $48 million school budget request. Now it's up to the state.
So that $12.18 an hour starting wage could potentially stay the same. The district hopes other factors will bring people in the door.
"Thirty hours a week is what we consider full time, comes with a full benefits package six hours a day, three in the morning, three in the afternoon," said Rich. "It's a great place to work. Great students to drive for."
So what happens if the district doesn't have all the drivers it needs, which has been a problem the past couple of years.
They will combine routes which means drivers will double up on routes, which means your children could be waiting at the bus stop longer or riding a bus longer before and after school.
