School bus drivers to serve as substitute teachers again next year

Fayette County Schools plans to offer bus drivers a chance to be substitute teachers again next year after successfully launching the program this past February.

Bus drivers filled 146 substitute positions that would have gone unfilled had they

not stepped in, Cindy Robichaux, Fayette Schools’ substitute services specialist, said in a video update of the program. Most of that coverage came from a core group of 16 bus drivers who covered many substitute shifts over the last two or so months.

“It’s been wonderful,” Robichaux said. “We’ve had great feedback.”

Fayette turned to bus drivers after struggling to fill its full slate of substitute vacancies, despite hiring more than 120 people for the jobs since the school year began. That put a strain on administrators, who utilized every available worker — from janitors to principals — to substitute in classrooms, leaders in the district said.

To become a substitute, an applicant must be 21 or older and have at least a high school diploma. References also are required.

Bus drivers offered students familiarity and the school system a group of workers already on the payroll.

“We were able to bring in people that we knew and we trusted to come into the classroom to now play a different role for our scholars,” said Monica Reckley, principal of Fayetteville Elementary School.

Bus driver Natalie Robinson said she thought all she would be doing was sitting down and watching the students. Instead, she found herself interacting with students and helping them with their work.

“I enjoy it,” she said. Krystin Hall, principal of Whitewater High School, said the program should continue into next year.