School District 49's bus test driving event comes with incentives
Jun. 7—School District 49 is inviting the community to hop behind the wheel of a bus Friday for an experience the transportation department says is far less intimidating than they might think.
The district will hold its first bus test drive recruiting event at Falcon High School in an effort to fill more than two dozen vacant positions.
Transportation staff shortages have plagued districts across the nation, resulting in canceled field trips and cut routes. D-49 is currently down 26 drivers, according to Transportation Director Jack Pietraallo.
The district cut 20 routes back in 2020 following the onset of the pandemic and has yet to fill vacancies necessary to reinstate them. Even as transportation administrators such as Pietraallo step in to cover routes on top of their regular eight-hour jobs, severe understaffing forces the district's hand in choosing which events to prioritize and which will go without transportation.
"It hurts. That's why we're here," Pietraallo said. "We're here to support our kids and get them to their events, and it just eats at us because we can't help them when we're this short, and we have to turn them down."
Interested members of the community need not call ahead or register before dropping by to test drive one of three buses parked onsite. The event runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is expected to take about 10-15 minutes per person.
A trainer will show prospective drivers around the outside of the bus and explain how the vehicles operate, then take them inside to walk through the controls. Drivers will sit down and adjust the mirrors to their liking before taking the bus for a one-mile drive around the parking lot. Buses will not exceed 10 mph during test drives, and trainers will remain beside drivers to guide them through the entire process.
"We're going to set your fears at ease," Pietraallo said. "You're going to be more comfortable doing this than you will be driving your car."
Fear is often the number one barrier standing between a potential driver and a bus, according to D-49 Transportation Manager of Personnel Lynnea Brown.
Brown experienced her own reservations when she started working in the district as a paraprofessional, which is a monitor who rides on a special needs bus but does not drive. She refused to train to become a driver despite continuous urging from her supervisor, she said, because she was afraid of driving such a large vehicle in the snow.
One day he sat her down in the driver's seat.
"The next thing I know, he was making me drive around in the parking lot. I went from being petrified to, as soon as I was done after about an hour driving around the parking lot, I turned and looked at him and said, 'Oh my God, this is so fun, I cannot wait!'" Brown said. "For me, that's what it took ... I feel safer driving that bus on a snowy day than I do my own car."
Test drivers are not committing to serve the district by taking a bus for a spin on Friday, but those who are interested can take the next steps by signing up for commercial driver's license training with the transportation department. All training hours are paid. Driver's must be at least 23 years old with a valid driver's license.
New driver base pay will also increase in July from $17.54 an hour to $20 an hour. Drivers who work a minimum of 25 hours per week are eligible for full benefits. For those looking to earn even more money on the job, some open positions guarantee 40 hours of work per week with a base hourly pay of $22.
"We're trying to cover the gamut for any applicant. The ones who can only do 25 hours a week, we've got that, and the ones that wanna work, we got plenty of work for 'em," Pietraallo said. "If you need hours, you can bring your bus into the wash bay and wash a school bus as well. It's an unending amount of work that we're able to give to people if they want it."
New drivers will receive a $1,000 signing bonus paid in two increments, one upon completion of training and the second after working one school year's worth of time. Drivers new and old may also receive a $500 referral bonus if a person they refer to the transportation department successfully completes training.
"It's a great way to help your community. Even the hardest ones, these guys come in straight out of the Army retired," Pietraallo said. "They're just retired from the military, and they melt. These kids melt their hearts. You end up loving these kids and loving your job."
