Shortage of bus drivers leaves many SLO County kids without a good way to get to school
Seeing a big yellow school bus with its wheels going round and round isn’t necessarily a common sight in San Luis Obispo County.
In fact, school districts in the county are struggling to provide transportation services to students.
“It’s heartbreaking for us not to be able to serve our rural students and even our inner-city students in general,” said Kelly Stainbrook, transportation director at the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District.
Stainbrook said it’s not a budget issue or a bus issue — the district has all the buses it needs and even recently received a brand-new electric bus. Rather, it’s a driver issue.
“I have all the equipment. ... I just need a body to train,” she said.
School districts across the county are constantly searching for bus drivers to transport students to and from school. Buses are important because they reduce traffic and pollution, helps students get to school on time, and allow students to socialize on the ride.
San Luis Obispo County schools aren’t the only ones struggling to put yellow buses on the streets. Fewer than 9% of California’s students ride a school bus, according to a 2017 survey by the Federal Highway Administration.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the driver shortage, some local school districts, such as Templeton Unified, haven’t had a full fleet of drivers for more than a decade.
“You’ll notice ‘bus drivers wanted’ signs up everywhere,” said Randy Botts, Templeton director of transportation. “There’s a general need for drivers. You add 84 kids in the back, and it gets even harder.”
Each district in the county is required by federal law to provide transportation to certain students with special needs who request it. Beyond that, some in the county have limited availability to bus students, as they’re operating on a skeleton staff.
Paso Robles Joint Unified, for example, offers one bus to pick up students in San Miguel and drive them roughly 10 miles down Highway 101 to the high school. That bus is full, and Stainbrook said she has a waiting list of students that could fill another entire bus, but she doesn’t have a driver to staff it.
Templeton Unified brings a few students in a van from its most rural site, Vineyard Elementary School, to the more centrally located Templeton Elementary School for parents to pick up their kids there.
San Luis Coastal Unified and Lucia Mar Unified school districts are both able to offer some busing options. But they’re also operating with the few drivers available, meaning routes are limited.
“If you’re looking for a job, you’re more than welcome,” said Chris Bonin, San Luis Coastal’s director of transportation, adding that his district has about five driver positions open.
School district transportation directors said they offer competitive pay and some can give a sign-on bonus to help cover any licensing fees. The rigorous testing and requirements of a school bus driver may be a hurdle too big to overcome for some, Stainbrook said, but it’s important as well.
“It’s good that California has those rigorous standards because of the cargo you’re carrying,” she said. “You’re not carrying lettuce or carrots or strawberries. You’re carrying precious cargo, people’s children. And so there need to be high standards.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 10:00 AM.
