Driver shortage forces RCS to shift gears

After taking the fast lane for the past few years to handling nearly all transportation needs in house, those efforts have hit a bump pin the road as a result of the severe driver shortage.

Transportation Director Janice Prior told the board on Monday that the driver shortage has led the district to shift gears on the four-year-old effort to handle bus runs in house and contract out two bus runs. Those runs - and one other - were added to the district's daily routes in the past three months as a result of new classifications of two special education students and decisions to send them to schools outside of the district.

Contracting the runs comes at a cost. The draft 2008-09 budget proposal currently under review calls for $104,000 in transportation contracts for the two special education students.

"I just don't have the drivers to handle them," Prior said. "It has gotten worse since the summer, not better."

The district has been dealing with the shortage since last school year and had hoped increased communication about the desire to hire new personnel, as well as providing training for free in-house.

RCS pays drivers a competitive wage of $12 an hour that increases up to $21 an hour with experience and longevity. The pay also includes a portion of health, dental and vision insurance.

A full staffing is 50 drivers, who must cover approximately 50 bus routes with more than 200 separate runs per day, Prior said. Additionally, the district tries to maintain a pool of at least four full-time backup drivers to cover for staff absences.