School bus drivers in Forest Lake could strike as early as May 2 if an agreement with Forest Lake Area School District isn’t reached by then.

Citing low wages and long work days, the union that represents the district’s 76 school bus drivers and special education bus aides notified district officials on Friday that they had filed an intent to strike with the state Bureau of Mediation Services. That action triggers an automatic 10-day cooling-off period, which is required under state law.

The potential strike would impact students who attend Forest Lake Area Schools, Lakes International Language Academy, North Lakes Academy and St. Peter Catholic School.

A Teamsters Local 320 official said Thursday that the school district can’t hire enough bus drivers to fill open slots because pay is 12 percent “under market.” Drivers in the district start at $18.60 an hour; drivers in the Cambridge School District make $25.50 an hour, said Amy Perusse, negotiator and business agent for the union. One of the bus companies that contracts with the Stillwater Area School District pays its drivers $27 an hour, she said.

Not having enough drivers means routes often are canceled or combined, and there is an excessive wait time for students, Perusse said. “Because they’re combining routes, the routes are much longer,” she said. “Some kids are sitting on the bus for an hour each way to and from school.”

Superintendent Steve Massey said Thursday that district officials will continue to work with the union “to reach a contract agreement that will prevent this strike and the associated disruption to students and families.”

If a strike should occur, he said, schools will stay open and continue providing educational services to students. School and district staff are working on a plan for operations if bus services are not available, he said.

“We understand that if a strike occurs, it will be a significant disruption to our students, families and staff,” Massey said. “We will do everything we can to assist families as they may face challenges getting their kids to school.”

Union members voted last week to authorize a strike after voting down a contract offer from the school district.

Bus drivers used to get a break during the day between their morning and afternoon routes, Perusse said. Now, because the drivers’ shifts are so much longer, they don’t have any significant down time in the middle of the day, she said. “They might have just an hour, and they generally just have to sit there for an hour – off the clock – not doing anything,” she said.

Union officials are trying to figure out ways to recruit and retain drivers — and competitive wages are key, according to Perusse.

“Competitive wages will make these downtimes more of a normal process, so drivers aren’t stuck waiting around the garage waiting to drive again,” she said. “We’re not asking them to be paid for the dead time. We’re asking them to increase wages so they can hire enough drivers so that the down time between routes goes back to a longer, more normal period that allows drivers to do other things with their day. Instead of a four-hour break in the middle of the day, they’re only getting a one-hour break in the middle of the day, and that doesn’t give them time to go home or do anything else.”

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Officials from the school district, which has around 6,000 students and covers a large geographic area, have been vocal over the past decade about its transportation funding difficulties, Massey said. District drivers transport students via school buses across 5,500 miles a day.

The state’s funding formula provides transportation funding to districts based on the number of students, rather than the actual cost of transporting those students, Massey said. Because funding from the state doesn’t cover the costs involved in operating the bus system, the district must use about $500,000 from its general fund to make up the difference, he said.

“We have been lobbying the Legislature for several years to fully fund our transportation deficit, but so far they have chosen not to do so,” said Massey, adding that he had been at the Capitol this week meeting with legislators and the Gov. Tim Walz’s staff “to communicate the urgency of the issue.”

Without additional commitments from the Legislature, the district must negotiate with the limited resources at hand, he said.