school board voted to increase bus driver compensation to at least $20-HR
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The School Board’s mission to improve staffing and on-time arrivals for the district’s school buses is showing progress during the first semester of the 2023-2024 school year.
Nearly five months ago, Chairman Matt Susin and the school board voted to increase bus driver compensation by $5 an hour to at least $20 an hour for all drivers, making BPS the best-paying district in central Florida.
When the increase was approved in June, Vice Chair Megan Wright, a District 1 representative, said, “Today is an exciting day for our transportation department. Everything we do depends on our students arriving at our schools safely and that isn’t possible without our devoted staff. We thank those of you who have stuck with us through this journey and welcome the new drivers who will be a part of this amazing team.”
Wright has advocated for increased pay for bus drivers since being elected to the school board in 2022.
New information from the district shows an increase in the Active Driver Count from 215 to 241 drivers over the past two months. Current Double Backs (when a driver takes two sets of students to different schools) have decreased from 13 to four. Late buses have also decreased, from 37 to 14.
The district is still hiring, with a goal of adding at least 17 more drivers.
The school board’s support of the pay increase and the increased focus on student behavior has helped stabilize our driver staff.
“As we all look forward to Thanksgiving, the school district is thankful for our bus drivers and excited to add more of them to Team BPS,” said a BPS spokesperson.
The post BPS Nearing Full Staff of Bus Drivers After School Board’s Actions, Still Seeks to Fill At Least 17 Job Positions appeared first on Space Coast Daily.