CHARLOTTE, N.C. — School bus drivers with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are now the highest paid in the state.
The district announced a pay-raise Monday as they continue to face a bus driver shortage. Currently, the district is still looking to fill 67 positions, an issue that has led to late buses and longer routes for kids this school year.
“If we start out with more than 67 drivers short on-a-daily basis -- and we may have 20 to 30 absences district-wide -- that leaves us in a position to try and cover at least 100 buses with the available drivers that we have,” said Adam Johnson, Executive Director of Transportation for CMS.
Johnson said in order to cover all of the routes, it’s been all-hands-on-deck. In fact, he's been driving school buses this school year. Johnson added because of the bus driver shortage, some of the 14 district transportation offices are left with just one person manning the phones so other personnel can join the fleet.
“We have to combine routes, and we also have to do what we call double-backs where we have to go and pick-up one group and then drop that group off and then come back and get the second group,” says Wendy Parker, manager of the Garinger transportation area.
In addition to facing hiring hurdles, CMS said they’re also having trouble retaining drivers.
“We’ve hired 105 since August 1, but in that same period-of-time, we’ve lost 94 drivers,” said Johnson, citing a good economy, a low unemployment rate and competitive salaries elsewhere.
Monday's major CMS announcement revealed all drivers district-wide will now make a minimum $15 an hour, making them the highest paid school bus drivers in the state. For veteran drivers already making $15 an hour, the district said they’ll receive an additional $.50 an hour.
Effective Oct. 1, all @CMSbus drivers will earn $15/hr, making them the highest-paid drivers in the state. Out of our 1,000 drivers, 700 will receive this raise. The 300 drivers already earning $15/hr will receive an increase of 50 cents/hr.
Johnson said the move will not only make the district’s opportunities competitive with those of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), it will hopefully help them retain drivers as well. Currently, the starting salary for drivers at CATS is around $16 to $17 an hour.
“We don’t have any nights, no weekends, so you have a pretty set schedule, paid holidays, good benefits with the state,” said Johnson.
Drivers like 23-year CMS veteran Denise Gwil welcomed the pay-raise news.
“I think it’s wonderful. I think CMS did a great thing,” she said. “You got single mothers who drive. We’ve got fathers who are raising their children.”
CMS said they currently have a little more than 1,000 drivers but need 1,088 to be fully staffed. Johnson said they have a class of drivers who are about to graduate and hope students start seeing the effects of shorter routes and on-time arrivals in as little as two weeks.
Johnson also thanked parents Monday for their patience, not only with buses but with the phone lines.
"Once we get the drivers, the communication piece will improve and certainly the on-time arrivals will too," said Johnson.
To apply to be a CMS bus driver, call the CMS transportation line at (980) 343-1900 or click here.
