We have been reporting on the state of affairs of the Williamson County Schools (WCS) bus system. WCS has struggled with a shortage of bus drivers since the beginning of the school year and has implemented double routes for 14 area schools. Yesterday, we covered how WCS is handling concerns from current bus drivers and today, we take a look at how other school districts are faring this year in regards to school transportation. (Scroll down to see a graph)
Williamson County Schools
As reported in yesterday’s story, WCS completes a total of 224 routes and 896 runs daily and has 224 drivers.
“We have 18 substitute drivers at this time. However, as with any large operation, on any given day we have drivers who are out sick, etc. We have budgeted for more full time substitute drivers to cover those sick days. If we had every budgeted full time substitute position filled, we would be able to cover those uncovered routes that vary daily due to sick days, family emergencies, etc,” said Carol Birdsong, WCS Communications Director.
Starting pay for WCS bus drivers is $14.43/hour.
Franklin Special School District (FSSD)
FSSD tells us that they have not had a shortage of bus drivers this year; although, it is important to note that FSSD requires a smaller fleet and not as many bus drivers are needed.
“We have 27 full time bus drivers and several sub drivers. They are paid between $15.83/hr. and $23.44/hr., depending on experience,” said John McAdams, Associate Director of Schools
Metro Nashville Public Schools
Metro Nashville Public Schools requires 650-700 buses per day.
They are also not experiencing a shortage of bus drivers. “We are always hiring because of typical driver turnover, but do not have a shortage. We typically have less than 10% of our driver positions open at any one time. The industry average is around 10% with some districts as high as 25%,” said Joe Bass, External Communications Manager for Metro Schools.
Bass also told us that Metro bus drivers are paid $13.08 per hour and work 7 hours per day
Rutherford County Schools
Rutherford County Schools use a owner/contractor system and therefore do not own their own buses. They have 248 buses on contract and do not have a shortage of drivers or contractors.
Rutherford County Schools bus driver pay is not readily available. “We have contracts with bus owners based in the number of seats on their bus and the miles on their route. Bus owners can either drive the bus themselves or hire a driver,” said James Evans Community Relations Coordinator.
Maury County
“We are indeed experiencing a shortage in both full time drivers as well as to our substitute driver staff. I do not know of a district right now that is running fully staffed. This is not only in our area but rather statewide. This shortage is applying to both districts who operate their own buses as well as, districts who contract out to private companies,” said Eric Perryman, Supervisor of Transportation and Safety
Fully staffed, Maury County Schools has 155 positions and are currently employing 134 drivers.
Perryman said they are currently short 8 full time drivers and 13 substitute drivers. Each day they run 334 routes with 115 buses.
Maury County bus drivers are paid $15.02 per hour and work 4 hours a day. All drivers receive a full time employees benefit package, including insurance and retirement plans.
Read Also: Williamson County Schools Addresses Concerns from Bus Drivers
This article is incomplete. It doesn’t share all of the comparable factors for each district. How many hours per day do drivers work in Williamson and FSSD work? What are the benefit packages for each district? In some you list the starting rate, while others it’s an average. I know that Williamson County has some drivers making much more than the $14.43. Please publish all comparible factors or don’t publish the article.