“With the rise in cost across the board and another company offering this starting wage, we had to be able to get people willing to apply for our positions too,” Carnes continued. “And if we don’t have enough drivers to get the kids to school, that is a problem.” He said the decision was made to use $20 per hour as a base line for all 40 drivers and two field coordi- nators, and then the already built-in pay tiers were adjusted accordingly. The raises were built into the bud- get for the school year once it was decided upon by the labor manage- ment committee. Additionally, the district offers
dental, medical and vision in- surance as well as paid sick and vacation leave, retirement pensions, overtime pay, and additional driving hours, if desired. Carnes noted that transportation staff are also offered a flexible schedule, a positive work- place environment, professional development training and techno- logical advancements. “Our drivers seem to be happy to
work in this district after working other places in the past,” Carnes observed. “They seem to be hap- py with the benefits offered and wages.” In term of technological ad- vancements, the district used Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER) to purchase Tyler Drive tablets and student ridership technology. Carnes explained that transpor- tation shared information about technology upgrades and district officials approved the use ESSER funds to purchase them. He added that the ESSER funds were allocated based on needs and priority, not by location or department. “With the amount of coverage
we had, knowing where students are and following the same path of travel via GPS is a priority,” Carnes
Learn how Arkansas college students became school bus drivers at
stnonline.com/go/ay.
said of using ESSER funds. “Also being able to track actual ridership more accurately for the COVID con- tact tracing was super critical.” Meanwhile, West Virginia’s state
minimum wage currently sits at $8.75 an hour, though there is a bill to raise the minimum wage to $10.50 on Jan. 1 of next year. David Baber, the executive director of school transportation, school operations and finance for the West Virginia Department of Education, said salaried transportation em- ployees of each county and district are paid on an incremental basis for the number of years of service, therefore the average hourly wage will slightly increase each year. For instance, a school bus driver with 20 years of experience could start at an approximate base of $17 an hour, though counties and districts can increase the salaries if they have local funding to do so. He added that all ESSER funds
were distributed to each district to use as needed. “I believe some counties and districts used funding for advertisement, personal protec- tive equipment, and for cleaning supplies for the buses,” he said. “The restrictions on the use of the funding originally did not include or was not portrayed to include driver training and recruitment re- imbursements, new bus and facility purchases, equipment, etc.”
Big Money For Mustang Public Schools in
Oklahoma, the unexpected bonus of $1,000 given to all employees throughout the district in Decem- ber was greatly appreciated. “With the timing being near Christmas, it made it that much more special,” Transportation Director Donnie
WE REALLY DO MEAN
FULL SERVICE
With radiators, DPFs, EGRs and more than 30,000 exhaust parts, it’s no wonder Auto-jet is the choice of school bus systems coast to coast.
Quentin Kuhns Sales Manager
AUTO-JET.COM 800-247-5391
www.stnonline.com 53
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
