Bay District Schools to offer new bus driver bonuses through the end of school year
PANAMA CITY — With a demand for bus drivers within Bay District Schools, the Florida Department of Transportation has awarded a grant to the district to help add drivers to the fleet.
In a Wednesday news conference, school officials announced it’s offering new bus driver bonuses for the open full-time positions within the district. As Bay District Schools continue to expand and experience growth in the student population, more bus drivers are needed to meet the demand.
“Our bus drivers are a vital part of our education system because they ensure our students are able to make it safely to and from school,” said Superintendent Bill Husfelt. “We hope to add more drivers to our team to provide the best service possible for our students and families.”
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The new bonus will apply to new bus drivers hired on with the district and will be offered until the end of the school year.
The bonus entails the following:
Up to $3,000 for CDL drivers with P&S Endorsements
Up to $2,000 for drivers requiring training
$15 starting wage and full pay during training
Additional $1,300 possible after the first year
Weekends, nights and holidays off
Richard Dashiell, safety and training officer for the district's transportation department, explained that the district had seen a significant decline in bus drivers since Hurricane Michael hit the area. Since the disaster displaced most drivers, it caused more buses to become overcrowded − to the point that transportation officials had to drive bus routes and they had to transport fewer students who lived near schools.
“We would love to transport more kids if we had more drivers, but until then we will have to keep making it happen so students can get to school every day,” Dashiell said. “If we get enough drivers then we could start transporting students that live closer to schools, as well.”
Dashiell said he hopes the new bonus offer will bring at least 20 new bus drivers to Bay District Schools.
“I think the benefits are great because when you can give someone a bonus within their first year then it can really help people out a lot,” he said. “So we’re really happy to be able to offer this bonus to new drivers.”
Randel Bailey said his love for kids is what kept him a school bus driver for 22 years with Bay District Schools. However, he called the overcrowding in buses a “bad situation” and believes that more drivers could easily resolve that issue.
“I once had a bus that was totally overcrowded and that didn’t work out for me, but there’s no reason people in our offices should be driving a bus because they aren’t able to do their jobs if they’re out on a bus,” Bailey said. “We definitely need bus drivers and I believe if we can add more drivers then it could solve the overcrowding problem.”
Interested candidates should apply at bay.k12.fl.us/careers or call 850-767-4495 for more information. All applicants must have a driver's license for at least five years, be able to pass a department of transportation physical, and pass a pre-employment drug screening and background check.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay District Schools is offering bonuses to new bus drivers
