CHANDLER, AZ — For some children, getting an education is essential, but the way to do that is to get to and from school on the bus. Valley districts continue to face school bus driver shortages and now the Chandler Unified School District is turning to a pilot program to help hire and retain more drivers.
The district’s governing board, this week, voted to increase compensation for their bus drivers through stipends. The district created a driver advisory board, hearing from their drivers about what’s needed and the reality they face. The issue of pay was at the top of the list.
Starting immediately and through the next school year, drivers will be getting several hundred dollars extra if they have to drive combined routes several times a quarter, get backpay for that and an annual stipend. Drivers could see an extra $1,000 or more.
This is on top of hiring incentives the district pays for new drivers and those who refer them.
Tom Dunn, the executive director for capital projects and operations for CUSD, said they have about 160 drivers right now, and to be fully staffed, they’re in need of 200. So, they’ve had to eliminate some routes and double up routes for some drivers. This is a reality several districts have faced since the pandemic. Drivers are leaving due to pay, medical reasons, retirement and more.
“I think over covid, we saw a lot of drivers retire. Our driver pool tends to be second careers so with that, we did see retirements and we haven’t been able to backfill those over the last three or four years,” Dunn said.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in September 2024, there were 200,000 bus drivers nationwide. That’s down about 12% compared to September 2019. The report from the organization shows the key issue that drives the shortage is because of low pay.
For Trish Dudding, a driver in the district for nearly 20 years, she loves her job and the connections she’s made. However, she says hearing that she gets additional compensation is helpful, especially with inflation.
“I'm excited about that and the drivers that have been here and helping, I think that will make them feel great and be happy about it. It's a great idea,” Dudding said.
Dunn said they’re still looking at other incentives and changes for their drivers to help keep them while also encouraging others to apply.
“Another thing we need to do is look at the salary schedule our drivers are on. Human resources is currently doing a salary study. Take some time, research and see if we can financially afford to increase hourly driver pay permanently,” Dunn said.
