Bus driver deficiency punches the Panthers

Milton is dealing with a local bus driver shortage. Drivers have to operate the bus, focus on the roads and get students to maintain good behavior, according to FishingCreek driver Ms. Dawn Clouser.

“It’s not easy for someone to become a driver,” said District Assistant Business Administrator Mr. Darren Tull. It’s a process that is costly for the contractor (FishingCreek Transportation) and takes months of training and certification, he added.

Ms. Clouser added that this year has been the most stressful in her six years of driving. She said that switching bus companies, filling out more paperwork and handling student disobedience has contributed to the stress.

The state government is searching for ways to simplify the process, and contractors are trying to make being a driver appealing, according to Mr. Tull.

“We haven’t had any issues, to the extent that other districts have,” said Mr. Tull.

When regular drivers are on vacation, out sick or scheduled to drive other school trips, students and families may notice the lack of bus drivers.

“If there’s an emergency, there are a few options: we can merge routes that are close to each other (and they’ll just take a little longer to get completed),” according to Mr. Tull.

He added that currently, the earliest bus pickup is at about 6:35 a.m. and the latest drop-off is at about 4:10-4:15 p.m.

Other options include taking parts of the routes and adding them to compatible bus routes or sending the same bus out twice. He added that Milton has not had to resort to these plans.

“Presently the shortage varies from school to school,” said Mr. Fred Bennett, FishingCreek Transportation representative. He added that some of the other schools that contract with FishingCreek have had to resort to other transportation plans.

The limit of how many kids can be on a bus depends on the make and model of the vehicle. “We try to keep the numbers down,” said Mr. Tull, adding that this is to avoid having three students per seat, especially with the middle and high school students.

According to Mr. Tull, there’s no limit regarding how many stops a bus can make, as long as time allows.

“FishingCreek is constantly looking to hire new drivers,” he added.

According to Mr. Bennett, FishingCreek always has one to five drivers in training.

New drivers usually spend a day experiencing the new routes, and if that’s not possible, all routes come with a roster that contains “turn by turn directions,” said Mr. Tull.

Mr. Tull said the Fifth Grade Baugher students being transported to White Deer has not impacted the bus driver shortage, according to Mr. Tull.

“We’re not really seeing any drivers leaving,” he added. “We haven’t experienced a great loss, just drivers retiring and things like that.”

Mr. Bennett added that ending the shortage depends on the success rate of the drivers who are being recruited.