Cumberland County school bus drivers hold 'sickout' over pay

Eighteen bus drivers with the Cumberland County school district "called out" of work Wednesday, impacting more than 250 students — all of them part of the exceptional children's program — and 28 county schools, district spokesman Lindsay Whitley said.

"School officials notified families in real time as they learned about bus driver absences," Whitley said in a statement Wednesday. "With a focus on ensuring our students arrive at school safely, we are encouraging impacted families to arrange before- and after-school transportation for their children today."

He said that if parents are unable to provide transportation, they should call the Exceptional Children’s Transportation office at 910-678-2584 to discuss transportation options.

The district first learned of the strike Wednesday morning when the drivers started calling in sick, he said. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was unknown if the strike would impact the rest of the week, Whitley said.

WRAL reported the absences were a coordinated effort by bus drivers in protest of their wages.

“We think we deserve more,” Cumberland County Schools bus driver Dorothy Dixon told WRAL. “We just don’t think it’s fair.”

A similar event — referred to as a "sickout" — happened in 2021 for the same reason. The move prompted the district to increase pay from about $12 an hour to $15.

More:Bus drivers, teacher assistants in Cumberland County Schools likely to get raises in July

More:More than 100 school buses without drivers Tuesday in Cumberland County

More:More than half of Cumberland County Schools employees earn $43K or more a year

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County Schools bus drivers protest pay