Starting January 1, Metro schools will increase pay for bus drivers and guarantee that they can work at least 40 hours a week. This comes as the school system is seeing high turnover among drivers and having a hard time finding new ones.
Stephen Smith has been with the district for a decade and says it would be easy to make more money elsewhere.
“If you have a love for what you do, you’re going to do it,” Smith said Thursday. “And if you’re just here for a check, you’ll get frustrated.”
The changes proposed this week include pushing up starting pay from $13.09 to $14.10 an hour and giving raises more frequently. Drivers will also qualify for $300 bonuses each quarter for perfect attendance, retroactive to the start of the current school year.
“If we can improve attendance, families will see a direct benefit in their bus service,” chief operating officer Fred Carr said in a news release.
In total, the compensation boost will cost around $2.6 million a year. The district designed this plan after listening to drivers about what it would take to stay competitive.
“Driving a bus is a hard job, and we were overdue in assessing the compensation plan for our drivers, which has led to low morale and high turnover,” Carr said.
Carr said he’s also working to address low morale and bad student behavior.
Emily Siner contributed to this report.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM