ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
Salem sometimes uses off-duty police officers and firefighters as substitute school bus drivers when regular drivers are ill or not working for other reasons.
Roanoke County is trying to recruit spare drivers by advertising on the government access channel on the Roanoke Valley's cable television system.
Roanoke school officials have sought drivers by distributing brochures at grocery stores.
Like their counterparts in the rest of the country, school administrators in the valley and Western Virginia are scrambling to hire enough bus drivers, particularly substitutes.
"Substitutes are our critical need," said Michael Bryant, Salem's assistant superintendent. "When you have a driver off for illness, you need someone who has the proper license and training to drive."
Salem also relies on workers in the city's Recreation Department, some of whom have experience driving buses for sports teams at Salem schools.
Ralph Farmer, acting transportation supervisor for Roanoke County schools, said it is especially difficult to recruit spare drivers because they are not guaranteed a minimum amount of work.
All school bus drivers in Virginia must have a commercial driver's license and undergo additional safety training that can take four to six weeks. They also must be tested for drugs.
"Some people don't want to go through all of the training for a commercial license and the safety issues," said Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations in Roanoke.
He and Farmer also noted that not everyone has the patience or temperament to be a school bus driver.
"Some people think it's too much responsibility for the pay," Farmer said. "They have to be concerned about the children's safety and look out for motorists."
With a strong economy and a low unemployment rate in the valley, school officials said, it's becoming harder to get people to drive buses for $40 to $47 a day (depending on experience and routes).
While the pay averages about $10.50 an hour for a driver in Roanoke, which has about 120 regular drivers, most drivers work only about four hours a day.
Kelley said some people don't like to work split shifts in the morning and afternoons. They can work a full eight hours at other jobs and make just as much or more, even though the hourly rate may be lower, he said.
"It's not like McDonald's, where you can work a few hours and then go home," Farmer said. "You have to get out early in the morning and then go back in the afternoon."
Most drivers are just as concerned about the health insurance and benefits as the pay, Bryant said. "When we list our benefits in ads, we seem to get a better response."
Farmer said the county, which has about 145 regular drivers, has learned that benefits are important in recruitment too.
Administrators from a dozen or so school systems in Western Virginia met recently to consider ways to recruit drivers.
"It's not just a problem in the valley, but in the whole region," Bryant said. "We discussed things like listing benefits in ads, putting notices in school newsletters and other ideas to get more people interested."
Turnover also is a problem. Roanoke has lost drivers to Valley Metro, Kelley said. If drivers stay for more than two years, the retention rate is generally higher, he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB