STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — School leaders in Stanly County are considering a major change to class schedules due to a bus driver shortage that's making some students constantly late for school.
Administrators say they need 86 buses to shuttle students between 21 schools in the district; however, they're missing 14 drivers due to a lack of pay, hours and benefits. So now, Stanly County Schools are going back to the drawing board to find out how to prevent kids from missing class time.
Current starting pay for bus drivers in Stanly County is $12.07 an hour. James said that 58 percent of drivers in the district are also working 20 hours per week or less and without benefits.
"You might see me driving a bus soon if we can't hire bus drivers," said superintendent Jeff James.
One of the proposed solutions is staggered start times for schools across the district. This would allow buses to run two routes and make up for the shortage of drivers on the road.
"If an elementary school started at 7:30, we need about an hour and 15 to 20 minutes to get to the next route," James said. "So that bus driver would drop off at elementary school A and elementary school B would start at 9 o'clock."
Parents have already made their concerns known to district leaders.
"If you went to work at 8:30 and we changed to 9 o'clock, then it creates an issue for you as a parent," James said.
Stanly County isn't the only district struggling to find drivers. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hosted a job fair for bus drivers last week. CMS hopes the $15 an hour starting pay offered will provide a solution to the ongoing problem.
James said Stanly County school officials are talking to consultants about every possible option and are looking at what other districts are doing to recruit and retain drivers before making a final decision.
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