Hall County School District turns the tide on school bus driver shortage

For a couple of years now, there's been a shortage of school bus drivers nationwide, but the Hall County School District seems to have found a solution that's helping with driver recruitment and retention.

 

Assistant Transportation Director Clay Hobbs told school board members at a work session Monday evening that advertising helped attract potential drivers, but the catalyst that has turned the tide for Hall County was the hiring of P.J. Huggins as the assistant trainer for drivers.

 

"This is definitely a success story that's had a great impact on our department," Hobbs said. "We hired an assistant trainer with the understanding that her job was going to be to take an applicant...and assist them in going from applicant to bus driver." 

 

According to Hobbs, prior to the addition of Huggins, all other supervisory personnel were spending the bulk of their time driving routes because of the driver shortage. So, even when there were applications to assess, there was little time to train.

 

"When we hired her, I think we had five substitute drivers for a 240-route fleet," Hobbs said. "Today, I'm happy to report we have 38 substitute drivers."

 

Hobbs said six other drivers are going through the training process and should be ready to drive this month. 

 

Hobbs said the transportation department also focused on advertising, placing signage on the school buses and on school campuses around the county. He said some of those signs remain on campuses in areas where drivers are still needed.

 

In addition, Hobbs said boosting driver pay and benefits was a plus; the school board made those moves in last year's budget process. 

 

After the meeting, Transportation Director Jewell Armour, noted that Hall County is not alone in the quest to find qualified bus drivers.

 

"It's not just the smaller counties, it's the big counties, too. It's the number one concern, probably, of most transportation directors across the state," Armour said. "When they hear what's happening here, they're going to want to know how we did it, and we're glad to share because they're in the same position we've been in."