SPECIAL REPORT
families and encourage those who can to consider transporting their children to school while we reroute buses and work to accommodate the growth,” said Toosie. In Tennessee as is the case
nationwide, many school dis- tricts are looking for ways to get more years and miles out of their school buses. The state is facing a shortage of drivers and buses. “In Tennessee, we don’t pur- chase many new buses,” said Alex Spann, student transporta- tion manager for the Tennessee Department of Education. “We keep older buses up to 18 years or 200,000 miles.” The state has received some
federal money that has been put toward new buses. Spann said it costs between $135,000 and $175,000 to buy a new internal combustion school bus, and fuel costs have increased. In some districts, Spann said, buses are used more and will have to double runs. Students who live within a mile and a half of their school must walk or arrange their own transportation to and from school. “In some of the larger school
districts, older students can use public transportation to get to and from school,” noted Spann. Another area for improvement is finding and keeping good school bus drivers. “We are find- ing more drivers, but there is still a shortage of qualified drivers,” Spann added. One problem is the split shift.
Many employees don’t want to work only a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the afternoon. Others may be able to obtain a CDL, but they want to avoid driving buses full of chil- dren or dealing with parents and administrators.
20 School Transportation News • MARCH 2024
An option is having fewer 49% of
transportation directors/ supervisors said their
district has seen an increase in student
enrollment this school year.
(Out of 85 responses to a recent STN magazine reader survey.)
requirements for drivers who transport students. Kentucky Sen. David Yates is the main spon- sor of Senate Bill 92, which he referred to as a common-sense solution to improve the transpor- tation problem in Kentucky. This legislation would allow schools to employ drivers who don’t have a CDL to transport students to and from school using smaller multi-passenger vans and ve- hicles. According to a Kentucky General Assembly Report, these vehicles transport students to extracurricular activities. Finding buses is not a signif-
icant problem for many Florida school districts, but finding quali- fied drivers is. Robert Manspeaker, director of transportation for the Florida Department of Education, said school systems offer hiring bonuses to encourage people to consider driving school buses. Some have used the state’s $15 million Driving Choice grant to increase driver pay last school year. Most districts offer paid CDL training and full benefits, includ- ing a pension. “Districts are attending job fairs
and looking for ways to encourage more people to consider becom- ing bus drivers. In most districts, finding drivers is a big problem,” said Manspeaker. “Some districts have used smaller vans.” Arby Creach, director of trans-
portation services for Osceola County School District in Florida, said he, too, has faced challenges in finding qualified drivers and mechanics. He said he has used the state’s Driving Choice grant to fund bonuses for new drivers. Last year, Osceola was able to
pay to a $6,000 bonus for drivers who had a CDL and $5,000 for those who still needed to obtain one. This year, Creach added,
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