School bus driver shortage, strong demand causing challenges for Hoover

A statewide shortage of school bus drivers and increased demand for bus service has left the Hoover school system scrambling to fill vacant bus driver positions and hire even more.

Though numbers were not available tonight, more children are showing up at Hoover bus stops than were signed up for bus service during registration, said Jeremy Bradford, the school district’s transportation coordinator.

Parents have reported overcrowded buses, children being left at bus stops and delays in getting children home in the afternoon, Bluff Park resident Robin Schultz said.

Bradford said his staff planned their bus routes and staffing levels during the summer based on transportation requests from parents.

They have had a tough time filling bus driver jobs left vacant from retirements and resignations, but the unexpected number of children showing up at the curb in the mornings has created additional challenges, he said.

Plus, the Hoover schools' transportation staff is dealing with more than 300 requests from parents for bus stop changes, Bradford said.

Hoover has 105 buses running right now, and 33 of those are running two routes, he told the school board. He still has five or six bus drivers in training to fill vacancies, and the school district is looking to hire six more, Superintendent Kathy Murphy said.

Hoover pays its bus drivers between $14,500 and $17,883 per year in salary, plus insurance and retirement benefits, Bradford said. They get paid for working four hours per school day — including the morning and afternoon — but some of them finish their routes in less time than that, he said.

The school board also tonight approved Murphy’s recommendation to hire a transportation route specialist and a bus driver trainer.

Right now, there is one person handling transportation routes, and “it is a bit overwhelming,” Murphy said. That job will cost the school district $63,000 to $70,000, she said.

Also, right now a bus shop assistant is training school bus drivers, but creating this new position will free that person up to work in the shop, Murphy said. The bus driver trainer job will cost about $43,000, but Hoover will only have to pay about $32,000 of that once support money from the state is received, she said.

Together, the six new bus drivers, transportation route specialist and school bus driver trainer will cost the school district about $225,000 per year, Murphy said.

In other business tonight:

• Murphy informed the school board about a change requiring school trips in excess of 200 miles or out of state to use charter buses instead of school system buses. That will cost the schools or school organizations taking those trips some extra money, but it should save the school district some wear and tear on the buses and keep the district from having to send multiple bus drivers on longer trips due to restrictions on the number of hours that drivers can drive, Murphy said.
• The school board approved a contract for Gatorade to be the exclusive provider of performance nutrition products for Hoover High School athletic teams. Gatorade is paying $32,000 and providing $23,000 worth of products for that right, Murphy said. Gatorade will have its products, coolers and tents on the sidelines of Hoover athletic events, Chief Financial Officer Tina Hancock said.
• The school board declared all the Apple iPads purchased for the school district in 2013 as surplus equipment to be sold to the highest bidder for parts. They have outlived their usefulness and had to be replaced with other electronic devices, Chief Technology Officer Bryan Phillips said.
• The school board agreed to lease the property where the Hoover Historical Society has its folklore center on the Bluff Park Elementary campus to the City of Hoover, with the intent for the historical society to continue to use that property. The historical society will pay for utility costs, which amount to about $50 per month, according to Craig Kelley, school board president.