Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 24, 1990 TAG: 9004240448
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
"We are asking to be funded fairly," said Raine Clingenpeel, a driver with three years' experience.
More than half the county's 109 school bus drivers attended a public hearing on the proposed $27.8 million school budget to make their case against the pay scale.
Supervisors listened but said they would not make any decisions until next Monday, when they are to vote on the school budget.
Bus driver Gladys Dunman gave each supervisor a packet of information that showed that all but the most senior Franklin County bus drivers are paid less than drivers for neighboring school systems.
Dunman also provided documentation showing that a few bus drivers are paid more than their colleagues with equal or more experience. For example, one driver with seven years' experience earns $26.23 per day, while other drivers with the same experience are paid $22.30.
"All we're asking is that everyone be treated equal," Dunman said.
Bus driver Linford Hall said he has never been given a satisfactory explanation by Superintendent Len Gereau or any other school official about the inequities.
At one point in his remarks, Hall turned to Gereau seated in the front row and asked: "Mr. Gereau, can you answer that?" Gereau, looking down at his notes, made no reply.
After the meeting, Gereau said the bus drivers should not have gone around the School Board to appeal directly to the Board of Supervisors. "They came to the wrong meeting," Gereau said.
Gereau said the School Board would consider some of the drivers' concerns at its May 14 meeting. One plan, he said, would be a significant across-the-board raise next year.
The raises would cost $170,000, which Gereau said he hoped the supervisors would appropriate in addition to the proposed spending plan for the 1990-91 school year.
As Gereau spoke with a reporter, a dozen bus drivers leaving the public hearing gathered around and began asking about inequities that an across-the-board raise would not resolve.
The drivers showed Gereau county pay records in which one driver with four years' experience was making the top daily rate of $38.08, or more than some drivers with 11 years' experience.
"How can you rationalize this?" asked Julia Clark.
"That must be a mistake," Gereau said.
When the drivers said they could show him a dozen similar cases, Gereau told them to bring them to the attention of Assistant Superintendent Wesley Naff.
Bus drivers, who have been unhappy with their pay scale for several years, spoke out this year after the School Board decided to give retirement benefits in lieu of a pay raise next year. A majority of bus drivers approved the plan in a vote last month.
Clingenpeel said the vote was unfair because senior bus drivers, who make up a majority of the drivers, had less to lose by deferring pay raises. Approximately 40 less senior drivers - who already were feeling underpaid - were upset at losing their raises, she said.
The School Board later proposed restoring raises to 11 of the 40 drivers, but that plan only reinforced drivers' perception that school officials did not understand their plight.
"It's not fair to give the 11 a raise and leave the rest out," said Sindy Shields, one of the 11 drivers.
Drivers said they would seek a meeting with Naff to see how far school officials would go toward discussing issues, including tying pay to the amount of time each driver spends on a route. Gereau has said he would consider such a plan.
by CNB