School Bus Drivers Said Peace Out Parents Panicking

a reply to: Charliebrowndog

My oldest nephew was in a smaller Kansas school last season, and they never had transport issues despite having to quarantine for COVID several times.

But generally, I think the smaller areas are tighter communities, so I think they'd have less trouble getting drivers. Kids know drivers, drivers know kids, and that has a lot to do with things being a bit less crazy.

a reply to: Nyiah

I had the really, really raw throat with strep once as a kid.

Strangely, that bout didn't make me feel physically ill, but my throat hurt so bad that any swallow at all brought tears to my eyes.

After that round, I never had anything approaching it until I picked up an aggressive bout of strep as an adult years later. I went from bare tickle to molten lead in about 12 hours, but that time I also had physical illness too. I remember the joint aches as being worse than the throat, so it wasn't as bad maybe as that time as a kid.

a reply to: ketsuko

But generally, I think the smaller areas are tighter communities, so I think they'd have less trouble getting drivers. Kids know drivers, drivers know kids, and that has a lot to do with things being a bit less crazy.

Nope, we are a smaller community and it appears we are having much bigger problems.
I think we just don't have the pool of people that would even do it in the first place.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I live in a town with over a million people in it, and we just got word yesterday that we were told a few months (!) ago that our kids won't have a school bus this year. They will instead receive a pass for the whole year to use the public transportation instead.

Since everything was in lockdown and school buses were only going at half the capacity because covid, there were not enough hours left to work and make a decent pay.
I think people simply enlisted in governmental emergency services to have a pay, and they see no reason to come back for a quarter of a pay...

a reply to: JAGStorm

Most bus drivers I have known over time (and I grew up in small farm town Midwest which required that I be on the bus upwards of a hour for a one way trip ) were either retired individuals or independent/small business owners such as farmers, the local garbage man, etc that had the flexibility. There are a ton of factors going on right now that could impact the job pool.

Yup. In my area, there is a MAJOR school bus driver shortage. Nobody wants to drive. And parents are flipping out about it. Im in Colorado in an affluent area.

I will say this....the biggest impact of it all is that kids cannot go on field trips now - because they tend to be done via the school buses.

Im going to go grab some posts from my local FB group so you can see some of the arguments. lol

a reply to: shaemac

They've been saying all summer that unvaccinated kids couldn't go on field trips. I think you are right, now no one will.
Hmm...

originally posted by: WillNotComply
a reply to: JAGStorm

“I don't know if masks work or don't work in that setting,”

It says on the box they don’t.

Testify.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Perhaps you opened the door a bit when you used the term brat.

When I said smaller community, I also implied that with that degree of knowing came a degree of respect for the driver. You don't call a kid a brat unless the kid acts like one, and kid who is generally recognized as a brat is one that lacks respect for his or her elders.

There is a point where it's just not worth putting up with it.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: JAGStorm

Perhaps you opened the door a bit when you used the term brat.

When I said smaller community, I also implied that with that degree of knowing came a degree of respect for the driver. You don't call a kid a brat unless the kid acts like one, and kid who is generally recognized as a brat is one that lacks respect for his or her elders.

There is a point where it's just not worth putting up with it.

I think people think of the term brat differently. For some it is intolerable, for others it's normal childlike behavior.
Either way, I wouldn't want to be a bus driver.

originally posted by: coamanach
a reply to: shaemac

They've been saying all summer that unvaccinated kids couldn't go on field trips. I think you are right, now no one will.
Hmm...

That is not the case here.....not in my county. Students do not have to be vaxxed, but on buses, they do have to be masked. Just nobody wants to work.

The school bus drivers get paid $17/hr to start. But they tend to be retired people. Now they have to either be vaxxed or masked up. I am sure that is a huge part of it.

a reply to: shaemac

As a group though the older folks are the most vaccinated because they are the most vulnerable.

I suppose another possibility is the screaming about how horrible delta is and how the vaccine doesn't work against it and now how dangerous the crumb crunchers are or will be because delta! and schools! and super spreading! and OH NO!

That could scare a lot of drivers off.

originally posted by: shaemac
Yup. In my area, there is a MAJOR school bus driver shortage. Nobody wants to drive. And parents are flipping out about it. Im in Colorado in an affluent area.

I will say this....the biggest impact of it all is that kids cannot go on field trips now - because they tend to be done via the school buses.

Parents are freaking out here too.
The problem is no matter what it will have an impact on the mornings, which means a disruption on going to work time.
Also our bus routes are LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG, we are talking 1 hr bus ride right now for some. It just isn't feasable to make that any longer. For example, I don't think first graders should have to handle anything over that every single day.

I have a good group of friends and we all have each others back. We all got into just driving our kids and did not rely on buses for anything. I hope parents learn quick and form those connections.

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a reply to: JAGStorm

I have a Class A CDL with both HazMat and Tanker endorsements. I can haul nuclear warheads. I do not have a school bus endorsement. I can legally drive one all over the country so long as there are no passengers on board. Many states realize that is a slim distinction...not Ohio. School bus is different than chartered bus and requires the entire four part test of written, 108 point pre-trip inspection, maneuvering and road test as though you never had a CDL.

Go back a few decades and my school bus drivers all had chauffeurs licenses that where grandfathers when the CDL’s started. Now why does Ohio have problems? Especially in cities where the training from schools are free for new hires and they can get a city bus driver job after two years for three times the pay.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I have a Class A CDL with both HazMat and Tanker endorsements. I can haul nuclear warheads. I do not have a school bus endorsement.

That is crazy!! No wonder there is such a shortage!

a reply to: Ahabstar

Dude ... hauling some of today's kids is like hauling nuclear warheads.

a reply to: ketsuko

I suddenly remember my Sean Connery “Be careful what you shoot at in there. Most things don’t react well to bullets.”

a reply to: JAGStorm

They have upped the pay for drivers here in the Chicago suburbs to $27 per hour.

Little bus driver recruiting stations are set up in every town.

Not sure how much they get to keep though.

The union, the feds, the state, and the local municipalities all get their share before the drivers receive a dime.