Pickett Schools Addressing Driver Shortage

Pickett County Schools have found a new bus driver to help offset the shortage seen within the district.

Director of Schools Diane Elder said they have been short one bus driver since one retired this summer. Elder said the new driver should complete their training by the end of this week as long as they pass a certification test.

“It won’t solve the issue, but it will put a Band-Aid on it,” Elder said. “And we’ll still have to work toward getting someone else trained. Hopefully someone will come in and we can train them and that way we’ll have a substitute in the background that can help us with taking trips.”

Elder said one of their bus routes currently runs later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon because of the lack of personnel. Elder said this means students on that route are missing about an hour of class each day.

“Some of the parents have been gracious enough to bring their children to school that way they’re not late and they don’t have to leave as early in the afternoon,” Elder said.

Elder said their teachers are working with those students to try and prevent them from falling behind.

“It’s not the child’s fault,” Elder said. “It’s the fault of the district and we’re just trying to do the best we can. And families are very good to us and they understand that we have a problem with our bus drivers, a shortage of bus drivers, so they’re working along beside us.”

Elder said she thinks the shortage of bus drivers is due to the limited hours of the job, not the pay rate.

“Used to (be) we had a lot of farmers that wanted to do that and they could farm during the day,” Elder said. “And that’s not the case anymore. Most people want a full-time job that they can get a forty-hour week in.”

Elder said they have one person lined up who is interested in working as the extra substitute driver that the district still needs.

“He works out of the county and I think he’s wanting a job at home that he can work part-time for us too,” Elder said. “So it may work out pretty good. I’m looking forward to talking to him.”