The pandemic caused a shortage of school bus drivers, and Columbia and Richmond counties are among those feeling the pinch.
Director of the Department of Transportation, Allen Connor, recently discussed at Columbia County’s Board of Education meeting how several counties are struggling with a lack of bus drivers. Richmond County officials also mentioned at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting the equal hope to gain more bus drivers going further into the fall semester.
“We have had a national bus shortage throughout the United States since COVID, especially in the East Coast. A lot of people that were driving buses, that were of a certain age, decided it was just not beneficial for their health to drive a bus with COVID going on,” said Connor. “A lot of those people have not come back at all, in fact the ones that left here just ended up retiring and didn’t want to come back.”
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Connor said he is looking to hire a pool of bus drivers which includes substitutes and reserved drivers to ensure regular drivers as well as backups.
Prior to the start of the school year, Connor said his department was proactive in trying to hire people and train them in preparation for school; however, he did get some help from past employees.
“We were proactive in reaching out to our past retired drivers [that are still certified] and asking them if they would like to come back and drive for the first few weeks of school,” said Connor. “We also had some coaches that are retired that were willing to drive for sporting events, so we had some coaches and bus drivers that came out of retirement, we put them through the necessary state and local training, and had them ready to go the first week of school.”
Connor said he was also able to utilize some of his cross trained office staff and engineers within the transportation department to fill in the gaps for bus drivers and makeup the temporary difference.
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“We had people leaving the office in the morning to drive buses and then back in their desks during the day, and they later went back out again to drive in the afternoon,” he said.
Despite having cross-trained employees, Connor said he would like to hire around 40 or more bus drivers to allow his office staff to focus on their primary jobs. Connor is always looking for more bus drivers, and aims to keep them working close to home and on within their availability.
“If there is anyone interested in a great part-time job with full-time benefits, we have great benefits, call us. We will train you how to drive a school bus. We never put anybody on a bus before they’re ready,” said Connor. “I had someone last year that said, ‘I can only drive a car, I can’t drive an SUV or a truck, but I want to be a school bus driver.”
Connor said anyone who has great personality, communication and people skills can work as a bus driver, even if they have never driven a large vehicle.
“I told her, ‘we can train you how drive a school bus.’ And six months later she said, ‘I love this job, this is the best part-time job I’ve ever had. I love working with the kids and being off in the middle of the day, but most of all it’s improved my driving skills.'”
Connor said thanks to his department’s “extensive” training, that employee even admitted she felt safer driving a school into heavy traffic than her own car.
Connor said no one has to be certified or trained to drive a school bus in order to be hired, his department provides all the training for free.
However, “we don’t hire anyone that’s had a DUI in the past. So you have to have a pretty good driving skills and a clean record,” he said.
For those interested in becoming a driver, Connor emphasizes one must be patient. “You have to patience with all students, whether they’re in Pre-K or 12th grade, or special ed., and every student has a different personality. So, you have to be adaptive in how you deal with the students,” he said.
With the shortage of bus drivers, some parents have resorted to dropping their kids off at school instead of using a school bus.
“While that could help, but I would tell all parents and anyone in our community that the bus is the safest transportation. The bus is very safe. So. if the parents are comfortable, I would put the students on the bus,” said Connor.
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During the first week of school, Connor said he had more 600 calls from parents and guardians concerned about the buses being late or delayed due to the decrease in drivers. While the number of calls decreased as more school days passed, Connor emphasized his desire for parents to download Columbia County’s school bus tracker app, the Edulog Parent Portal Lite, to reassure themselves and keep track of the bus’ arrival time.
“They sign up and then they can track the bus. They can set it up to track the bus two miles before it gets to your house, or they can track the entire route and watch their kid,” said Connor. “They can see where their kid is and what time the bus will arrive, which especially helps parents who have more than one kid in the school system who take different buses.”
While Connor’s department is working hard to secure more bus drivers and reassure parents, he said he still needs people to apply.
“A lot of the people that we’ve hired in the last five years come back to me and say, ‘this is the best part-time job I’ve ever had, I love the kids, this is great work hours for me and my family,'” Connor said.
He also said bus drivers make a bigger difference in students’ lives than people realize, “you see these kids grow and go into different grades, and you’re part of their life.” Connor emphasized how bus drivers set the mood for the day, “you are the first employee that the students see in the morning, if they ride the bus, and the last person they you’re the last employee that they see when they go home.”
Connor even remembers his bus driver from his younger days at school. “I had the same bus driver for 11 years, and I still remember her to this day. I tell the bus drivers, ‘the kids remember you and if you take really good care of them, they will know that,'” he said.
Connor said he is “blessed” to have a great staff and is hoping to add to it within the next 30 to 60 days in order to close the gap in transportation drivers.
To apply for a position as a bus driver visit: https://www.ccboe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1191307&type=d&pREC_ID=1440962.
For more information on Columbia County’s bus tracker app go to: https://www.ccboe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1191307&type=d&pREC_ID=2027314
Liz Wright is a staff writer covering education and general assignments for The Augusta Press. Reach her at liz@theaugustapress.com)
