Wake schools will give $1k more in bus driver bonuses, discuss long-term busing solutions

The Wake County Board of Education has approved a new retention bonus for bus drivers.

The school board approved Tuesday night a $1,000 bonus for returning bus drivers, which will be paid out later this month.

Before voting on the bonuses Tuesday night, the board heard suggestions for longer-term solutions for busing during an afternoon work session. Interim Superintendent Randy Bridges suggested rethinking student assignment and working with public transit on having drivers pick up school bus shifts.

The school board has already adjusted assignment to shorten bus rides over the years, by eliminating numerous calendar transfer options and redistricting some areas that were miles away from their zoned schools.

Bridges made his suggestions to the board but asked members to think about them. The board did not discuss them.

The Wake County Public School System added a $1,000 retention bonus for school bus drivers and made its $1,200 signing bonus immediate for new hires, in an attempt to improve recruitment and retention in the struggling transportation department.

The amount of bonuses available to veteran drivers each year would increase from $3,000 to $4,000. For new drivers, the maximum bonus amount would remain $4,200.

The move is the latest effort by the school system to steady its bus driver workforce. About one-third of all driver positions remain vacant. During the 2021-22 school year, only about one-fifth of bus driver positions were vacant.

The vacancies are forcing almost 3,200 students to regularly be late for school at the start of this school year because their bus routes are left without a permanent driver and are only covered by other drivers doing extra routes. The school system wants to hire at least 10 to 20 more bus drivers before it changes its plan.

Od Tuesday, the district said it will start paying staff to stay after school with students who are picked up late from it. The district is also expecting to hire four to six more drivers each week in September in October. At the same time, the district expects about five drivers per month to quit, according to Mark Strickland, chief of facilities and operations.

"We lose a lot of drivers throughout the year," Strickland told WRAL News. Anecdotally, the working conditions are stressful, he said, and the drivers find other work.

In the first week of school, 96% of routes ran on time and arrived before school began, according to the district. About 5.2% of bus drivers -- 28 drivers -- called out each day. The district is receiving 25% fewer customer support requests than at this time last year.

Before Tuesday's vote, bus drivers receive a $1,200 signing bonus, with $400 paid out after the first three months and $800 paid out after the first year. Under the new format, the signing bonus would be paid upon employment, with their first paycheck.

The average school bus driver salary, without bonuses, in Wake County is slightly more than $24,000.