Bus Drivers Needed In DeKalb County

Additional school bus drivers are needed in DeKalb County.

Transportation Supervisor Jimmy Sprague said the shortage can be blamed on changes in state law and lack of pay.

“In the transportation department it’s hard to compete against McDonald’s. McDonald’s has pretty good pay, they’ve got insurance, and they have retirement,” Sprague said. “The only thing I offer, as far as benefits, is retirement. The money is a lot of the problem.”

Sprague said Tennessee Association of Pupil Transportation guidelines indicate that the state has a 30-percent shortage in school bus drivers.

A deadly 2016 school bus crash in Chattanooga ultimately led lawmakers to change school bus legislation in 2016. Sprague said the changes made it more difficult to become a school bus driver.

“Used to, when you were 21-years-old you could obtain a CDL and drive a school bus,” Sprague said. “With the legislation that’s changed, you now have to be the minimum age of 25-years-old to drive a school bus.”

Drivers also need their CDL permit with P&S endorsement for a minimum of two weeks to ensure proper training. Sprague said before the changes took place a CDL was required for three days and a person could be driving a bus on the fifth day.

“It’s just a timely process and anytime you are dealing with the state or pupil transportation it’s going to take a little bit of time,” Sprague said. “We aren’t hauling gravel, dirt, goats or cows. We are hauling babies and that’s very important, at least it is in my department.”

DeKalb County currently needs to hire two full-time bus drivers to keep from supplementing through it’s two member sub pool.

“It takes a special person and you’ve got to love babies,” Sprague said. “It’s a perfect job for a mother who wants to be on the same schedule as her kids or a father that runs his own business.”

You can visit the DeKalb County School website to apply for a bus driver position.