Bus delays continue at Knox County Schools. Here's what parents need to know
Short 31 bus drivers as the school year began last week, many of Knox County Schools' 355 buses are delayed and running double routes. In some instances, students are getting home far behind schedule, causing disruptions for parents and students.
On the first full day of classes, Alicia Gentry's two daughters, who both go to Carter High School, got home after 5 p.m. On Thursday and Friday, they stepped off the bus a little after 4 p.m. Students at Carter are dismissed at 3:30 p.m.
“We’re just waiting to see what the day is going to look like,” she said, explaining the frustration of not knowing whether her bus will run on time any given day.
More: Knox County Schools has almost 500 staff vacancies as new school year begins
Gentry said the problems with busing cast a pall over her whole day, and her kids', too. And the feeling is widely shared.
"It's like a ripple effect. It’s not only stressful on these kids, but it’s also stressful on the whole community," she said. "You're mentally stressing these kids and parents out."
Which Knox County bus routes are messed up?
The bus driver shortage is not quite as bad as this time last year. At the start of the 2022-23 year, the district was short about 50 bus drivers, said Ryan Dillingham, Knox County Schools' director of transportation.
While every region in the district is dealing with bus driver shortages, some regions have more problems than others, depending on which company the district uses as a contractor.
"Some contractors have more driver openings than others. Some have more openings in some communities than in other communities but we have driver shortages all across Knox County," Dillingham told Knox News.
"When you have vacancies stacked on top of vacancies, everyone is then running behind."
For instance, Bus 24 serving West Valley Middle School ran about 45 minutes late last week, and bus 924 serving Hardin Valley Elementary, Hardin Valley Middle School and Hardin Valley Academy ran about an hour late.
In an attempt to fix the shortage, the district brought on two new contractors this year, Dillingham said at a news conference Aug. 3.
"There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I cannot tell you how long the tunnel is," Dillingham said.
How is the district communicating delays to parents?
Knox County Schools publishes a daily bus report at knoxschools.org/Page/15007 to announce delays. Administrators also send out email and text message notifications. But sometimes, parents rely on social media and chats with other parents to get the scoop faster.
The messaging has not been consistent, Gentry said.
How does the district hire bus drivers?
While 42,800 students are eligible to be served by district buses, only about 20,000 students ride the buses on any given day, Dillingham said.
The district contracts with 57 independent providers to drive about 355 buses. The district does not directly set driver pay, but the district pays, depending on the size of the bus, between $46,905 to $54,870 per year to contractors.
This contract includes compensation for 52 miles a day, and anything beyond that is separately reimbursed.
District is short on custodians, too
The school district has 89 vacant custodian positions out of 398. Eleven schools in the district have 50% or more positions vacant. These schools are:
A.L. Lotts Elementary
Ball Camp Elementary
Bearden High
Brickey-McCloud Elementary
Farragut Primary
Farragut High
Farragut Middle
Gibbs High
Northshore Elementary
Northwest Middle
West Valley Middle
Custodians are paid between $12.20 to $14.11 an hour, depending on their experience.
While the number of vacancies is high, it's a step up from where the district was at this time last year when there were 104 open positions, said Garfield Adams, the assistant superintendent of operations.
Custodial staffing problem reached an emergency level
In January this year, the board approved a 1.04 million contract with Duncan & Sons’ Building Maintenance to hire janitors for five months.
More: Knox County school board OKs 'stopgap' janitorial contract to get through the school year
Per that contract, which expired the end of June, the district got 50 custodians to help out with 17 schools. The district paid $24 an hour per custodian to Duncan & Sons.
The schools that received contracted staff were:
A.L. Lotts
Bearden Middle
Farragut Intermediate
Farragut Middle
Farragut High
Gibbs High
Hardin Valley Elementary
Hardin Valley Middle
Hardin Valley Academy
Karns Elementary
Karns Middle
Karns High
Northwest Middle
Powell Middle
South-Doyle Middle
West High
West Valley Middle.
The district is not exploring any stopgap contracts such as the one it had to use last year, Adams told Knox News.
"We've seen an uptick in employment. ... The situation is better than last year," he said.
How do I find out which positions are open?
Open positions at Knox County Schools, including job description and salaries, are online at knoxschools.munisselfservice.com.
Areena Arora, data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AreenaArora.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools bus delays continue at the start of the year
