NWA schools succeed in hiring bus drivers

Both the Fayetteville and Springdale school districts reported their staffing needs for bus drivers were close to full.

Jeremy Mangrum doesn’t have to drive a school bus this year, and he’s fine with that.

The Elkins School District superintendent drove bus No. 8 each morning and afternoon for the first four months of last school year, he said.

“Last year, we were in dire straits,” he said of the district’s bus driver staff.

It’s a different story this year. Elkins now has 15 fulltime drivers — only one short of a full staff.

“But we have a number of substitute bus drivers who can fill in on that role, and that’s much better than we’ve been in recent years,” Mangrum said.

Other Northwest Arkansas school districts reported similar success finding drivers this year after several very challenging years, which most school administrators have blamed on the covid-19 pandemic.

Both the Fayetteville and Springdale school districts reported their staffing needs for bus drivers were close to full.

“We’re back to where we were pre-covid,” said Mike McClure, director of transportation services for the Fayetteville School District.

The district is still seeking three more drivers, but has enough to serve the students along its 51 bus routes, he said.

“It’s a juggle every day,” he said. “My assistant and I will drive buses most days.”

The district now pays $19.92 an hour for drivers, up from $14.25 a couple of years ago, McClure said. The district also offers full-time benefits such as health insurance for drivers, a position requiring 25 hours of work a week compared to a normal fulltime work week of 40 hours.

Trent Jones, communications director for the Springdale School District, said the district has enough drivers to cover its 85 routes, but would like to hire about 10 more.

“We’re very, very happy to report we’re mostly fully staffed,” he said. “We’re in a good position.”

“Bus drivers set the tone for the community,” Jones said. “It’s the first face of the district students see in the morning and the last they see at the end of the day.”

The Bentonville School District has 121 daily bus routes, said Leslee Wright, director of communications. The district has 127 drivers and needs 131 to maintain the routes. Four candidates are taking written tests now, she said.

In March, the Bentonville School Board approved the first phase of a plan to consolidate bus stops, a move intended in part to eliminate the need for more drivers. Phase 1, which takes effect this school year, consolidates stops within neighborhoods.

The Rogers School District has about 70 bus routes and approximately 75 fulland part-time drivers, said Jason Ivester, a district spokesman.

“We are always in the market for new bus drivers,” he said.

The Fort Smith School District has 34 bus drivers and 27 bus aides, said Addie Reith, a district spokeswoman.

“We currently don’t have any open bus driver positions, but we are always looking to hire substitute bus drivers and substitute bus aides, which can be found under the careers tab” on the district’s website, Reith said.

The Siloam Springs School District still has some bus driver positions it’s trying to fill, said Shane Patrick, assistant superintendent. He said they need at least four more to be fully staffed, which would bring the district to 55 drivers.

Siloam Springs is right about where it was last year at this time in terms of its bus driver staffing, though the district probably has added a few more in part because of a raise the district gave drivers — from $16.75 to $18 per hour for a first-year driver, Patrick said.

“We do all in-house training and pay people for their time to train, and we reimburse the cost” of the commercial driver’s license, he said.

When necessary, Patrick himself will drive a bus.