is a long time for someone to go without getting paid.” Staff shortages are being felt nearly nationwide. Field-
crest Community Unit School District in Illinois started school on Aug. 28. Director of Transportation David Dun- ham said that as of last month he had 12 route drivers, 14 subs and seven monitors—not enough to transport 300 students. The total fleet consists of 22 school buses and three vans transporting students across 11 routes. “Being short drivers makes it tough to fill all routes and arrange for transportation for sporting events and field trips,” he shared. “I know in a few years I have a couple drivers looking to retire, so that is a great concern know- ing I am already filling open routes with a sub driver and then these possible open routes in the future.” He noted that his department has still been able to
cover routes and get students to school. Dunham added that he often fills in behind the wheel, as he’s been a driver for 25 years and is going on his third year as director. “We advertise for drivers. I have been thinking of doing some sort of a job fair,” he noted of potential strategies. “Allowing people to drive a bus around the parking lot to get a feel for driving a large vehicle. I also
try to hand out flyers at local events.” Meanwhile, Thomas Korth, the supervisor of transpor-
tation services for Oakland Schools in Michigan, oversees the transportation for the county with 1,700 buses for nearly 70,000 students that attend 28 individual school districts. However, he noted that he remains in critical need of school bus drivers. “We’ve become a little bit more creative on how we’re approaching the training and the recruitment,” he said. “Some of the districts are using signing bonuses. We’re doing additional training for them to be able to get in here and be equipped to be school bus drivers by [offering] professional development, training, just taking the worry out of it.” He acknowledged that route consolidations have
played a huge role in transporting students to and from school, as well as third party contractors, such as trans- portation network companies for McKinney-Vento students. “That way, you’re not using a 77-passenger bus to transport one or two children back and forth to school,” he said. “So, different ways within Oakland County that we’ve been able to be creative and come up with ways to transport all the students safely.”
22 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2023
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