Pender County Superintendent explains incentives meant to combat bus driver shortage
BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — The Pender County Board of Education met on Tuesday evening, where a new accelerated pathway program and the purchase of new fleet vehicles were discussed.
But the biggest issue facing the district involves how students get to and from school.
“Transportation has been the leading issue for us to try and problem-solve.”
Superintendent Brad Breedlove and the rest of the Board are dealing with yet another shortage of bus drivers, an issue that extends throughout the rest of the country.
“It’s not just Pender County, it’s many other counties across the state, if not every county across the state and across the nation,” Breedlove said. “This is a national issue.”
Breedlove said on average, the district is short between 6 and 8 drivers a day, so drivers often have to drive double or even triple shifts.
To combat the shortage, school board members have approved three new incentives for drivers.
One option would add a daily $5 incentive per run. For example, if a driver does 4 runs a day, it’s an extra 20 dollars in pay, on top of what they earn hourly.
The second is a $5 per hour increase for certified instructional assistants who are willing to drive a bus.
That bump would raise their salary to more than 27 dollars per hour.
And the third would be a $5 an hour increase for certified staff who agree to drive more routes.
Breedlove said these incentives will help attract and retain drivers for the district.
“We want to make sure the word gets out that Pender County Schools is a great place to work and as a bus driver, you’re a part of a team. And we want to create that sort of team feel with our bus drivers and they feel that they are supported and they also feel that they’re earning a competitive wage.”
He said the district’s ultimate goal is to be a place where certified staff and instructional assistants are not asked to fill vacancies.
He added that the shortage has not caused students to be late to class.
Instead, the impact is mainly being felt after school, due to traffic build-up, particularly along Highway 17.
