As bus driver shortage delays school, Richland 1 approves bonuses to attract drivers

Richland 1 is seeking to cut down on school start delays by providing bonuses to bus drivers.

The board unanimously approved Tuesday paying a signing bonus of up to $3,000 for experienced drivers, performance bonuses up to $1,000 per year and retention bonuses of up to $2,000. The bonuses are intended to reduce the district’s current shortage of more than 50 drivers.

“Chronically, for some schools the buses are late, so teachers are having to wait 30 minutes to an hour, which is a morale issue for teachers,” said school board member Beatrice King.

Richland 1 has more than 50 vacant bus driver positions, according to board documents.

Since there aren’t enough bus drivers, existing drivers are having to carry the workload typically handled by two or three employees, school board member Cheryl Harris said.

“Bus drivers are driving triple routes, and that’s daily. And after that they’re taking additional routes to make sure children get to school on time,” Harris said.

School districts throughout America have struggled with school bus driver shortages. Public school districts in Lexington, Kershaw and Richland counties alone are short 142 drivers, The State reported previously.

Richland 1 pays bus drivers between $15,900 and $34,700 for 180 days of work, according to a job posting on the district’s website.

One local district, Lexington 2, managed to fix its bus driver shortage by offering retention benefits, health insurance, dental insurance, a retirement plan and sick days, The State reported previously. Lexington 2 also gave credit to military veterans or commercial drivers who had driven large vehicles, which started the new employees off at a higher salary.

Following the Tuesday vote, Richland 1 bus drivers will earn larger signing bonuses for having a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and for having “additional credentials,” according to board documents.

The $3,000 signing bonus would be for drivers who “can walk in and just start driving the bus immediately,” Richland 1 Chief Operations Officer Ed Carlon said at the Tuesday school board meeting.

Bus drivers who have perfect attendance and no at-fault accidents can receive $100 per month in bonuses, up to $1,000 per year, according to board documents.

Bus drivers who remain at Richland 1 will earn annual bonuses the longer they are an employee. Drivers who have been at the district three years or less will get an annual bonus of $500. That bonus increases roughly every three or four years until it reaches $2,000 for 20 or more years of employment, according to board documents.

Richland 1 plans to keep the bonuses in place indefinitely, Carlon said.

“The goal is to hire and retain bus drivers for the long term,” Carlon said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.