4 school districts look into combined bus service
School districts for 2,600 Tuolumne County kindergarten through 12th grade students, close to 45% of the county’s enrolled K-12 students, are looking at sharing bus drivers in an effort to better ensure daily transportation for their students and to address what they describe as a national shortage of bus drivers.
The plan could go into effect in late summer and early fall, at the start of the 2024-25 school year. When it does, Curtis Creek, Jamestown and Sonora elementary district schools will start about 8 a.m. and Sonora Union High School District schools will start 30 minutes later.
The superintendents for the four districts issued a news release about their initiative on Sunday. All four districts are on spring break this week.
Split-shift work hours and comparatively low pay are factors in shortages of school bus drivers in California and elsewhere across the nation. School bus drivers often are not full-time employees, and they instead work split-shift schedules coinciding with the beginning and end of each school day, according to the National Education Association.
As of March 19, the average hourly pay for a school bus driver in California was $21.07 an hour, according to the job posting service Ziprecruiter. The majority of school bus driver salaries in California ranged between $16.59 and $23.94. The service saw hourly wages as low as $9.01 and as high as $29.89.
For several years in Tuolumne County, families with school-age children and school districts in the county have dealt with reduced bus services, frequent bus route cancellations due to absent drivers, and difficulties arranging transportation for field trips and extracurricular activities, superintendents Dawn Mori, Contessa Pelfrey, Cheryl Griffiths, and Ed
Pelfrey said in their joint announcement.
Curtis Creek School District currently employs three bus drivers; Jamestown School District employs one; Sonora Elementary School District employs three; and Sonora Union High School District currently employs five home to school bus drivers.
Sonora Union High School District also employs six bus drivers who serve the transportation needs of all of the county’s special education students who attend regional programs, District Superintendent Ed Pelfrey said Wednesday.
“While each district prides itself on its independence, we have a strong history of coming together to address common challenges,” Ed Pelfrey said in the joint statement. “From pooling resources for special education services and insurance to joint contracts for propane and organizing elementary athletics, our collaborative efforts have consistently enhanced operational efficiency and student services.”
A spirit of collaboration defines the county’s approach to education, he said.
The pending plan to share bus drivers will depend in part on the outcome of negotiations with each of the four district’s labor partners. The intent of the plan is “to streamline operational efficiency and ensure reliable hometo-school transportation for students,” the superintendents said.
Components of the cooperative proposal include:
• Shared transportation services: A two-year study involving eight districts led to the proposal, which seeks to introduce a collaborative transportation service, the superintendents said. The approach is geared toward optimizing driver recruitment and efficiency, enhancing student services, and achieving superior fleet utilization.
• Enhanced student services: The proposed transportation model is intended to result in a significant reduction in students’ time spent on buses, thereby enhancing their daily school experiences, the superintendents said. With a commitment to transitioning to a dependable service model, the plan is expected to ensure the availability of hometo-school transportation, field trips, and extracurricular activities.
“This proposed plan represents a strategic response to the bus driver shortage while reaffirming our dedication to provide reliable transportation for our students,” Sonora Elementary School District Superintendent Cheryl Griffiths said.
Mori is superintendent of Curtis Creek School District. Contessa Pelfrey is superintendent of Jamestown School District.
When the 2024-25 school year begins at Curtis Creek School District, Jamestown School District, and Sonora Elementary School District will start at approximately 8 a.m. Sonora Union High School District schools will start 30 minutes later, which aligns with California Senate Bill 328.
The bill requires adjusting high school start times to no earlier than 8:30 a.m., synchronizing school schedules with adolescent’s biological clocks, and fostering improved health outcomes and academic performance.
“A key aspect of the proposed shared services agreement is the commitment to keeping high school and elementary school students on separate home-to-school bus routes,” the superintendents said. “The introduction of staggered school start and end times is a strategic measure to accommodate this, ensuring dedicated transportation for each age group without overlap.”
Curtis Creek School District has a 2023-24 enrollment of 414 students, according to the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, while Jamestown School District has 411 students, Sonora Elementary School District has 693 students, and Sonora Union High School District has 1,085 students. Together, the districts have a total enrollment of 2,603 students.
Total enrollment for all the schools overseen by the county Superintendent of Schools was more than 5,800 in 2021-22 and 2022-2023.