CHARLOTTE, N.C. — School districts across the country are struggling to keep the wheels on their bus going round and round.
The nationwide bus driver shortages are having a big impact on things like bus routes and arrival times.
"The school bus driver shortage is continuing to get worse," said Campbell Millum, with HopSkipDrive.
HopSkipDrive partners with school districts around the country to arrange rides for kids that don’t fit neatly on a bus route.
"We need to be looking at solutions today, otherwise, we will be having the same conversation next year," said Millum.
Millum said their data shows the pool of candidates applying to school transportation jobs continues getting smaller, with the number of driver constraints increasing from 88% to 92% over the last year.
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Some school districts, like Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, are getting creative to find new ways recruit to bus drivers and technicians, they're offering a $1,500 sign-on incentive for drivers and a $3,000 sign-on incentive for technicians.
"The sign-on bonus is helpful to us but, as you know, while we have our sign-on bonus, CATS is upping theirs," said Adam Johnson, with CMS transportation.
"They have brought back part-time drivers and are starting their pay at $25 an hour, our pay is still $17.75 [an hour]."
CMS says their goal this school year is to increase their morning on-time arrival rate from 91% to 93% and their afternoon on-time arrival rate from 87% to 90%. But, with 32 vacancies and 50 drivers on approved leave, that ambitious goal is going to need a lot of effort.
"We are doing everything we can to continue the recruitment process and get ready to open the year as strongly as we can," said Johnson.
The district says attendance is also important to improve on-time arrivals and they're also planning to offer incentives for perfect attendance.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.