There are many jobs in the world that you can pursue.  You could be a doctor, lawyer, or even an astronaut, however, some of these careers are not as popular as others.  One of these happens to be a Bus Driver.  Not everyone could handle sitting on a bus with a wide age-range of children for long periods of time, while others might thrive in that environment. One thing is for certain: It is a job that needs to be done in order to help students and the community.

Fair Grove is very generous with their free transportation to and from school.  A lot of schools don’t have that privilege.  The school is currently looking for three full time bus drivers.  The Transportation Director, Don Brite, says, “One driver we hired last year did not return this year and another driver retired. That gave us two openings at the start of this year. Over the past few years we have had drivers retire or quit and we have not replaced them with dedicated drivers.”    The school has had to call upon certain teachers to help out with this shortage.  Don commented, “We have used personnel that have other jobs with the school and also have their School Bus License. We have done this to the point that we now don’t have substitutes to call on to help out when a need arises.”  

An issue with hiring more people is the difficult work hours.  They are required to work from 6:30 am to 8:00 am. Then they are off until 2:30 pm and work until 4:30 pm. This odd split shift makes it difficult to keep at second job.  Another problem is the pay.  Don adds, “A new driver starts out at $10.90 per hour. At 3.5 hours a day you can not support yourself or a family on that.”  

Also, you have to meet certain qualifications for this job.  Don says, “We need a Class B Commercial Driver’s License with a Passenger and School Bus endorsements. That involves 3 written test and 3 hands on test that include a vehicle pre-trip  inspection, driving skills test, and an on road driving test. After getting your CDL you then have to pass a health physical, background check, and a drug and alcohol test before you are hired as a bus driver.”  They do however offer Health Insurance to the full time bus drivers.  It’s a difficult job to fill, the drivers will be responsible with the most precious cargo in the world and must be selected carefully.