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The Fayette County Board of Education will soon consider ways to recruit and retain bus drivers who are often in short supply.
Recommendations on Sept. 6 by Transportation Director Roxanne Owen for recruiting new bus drivers included increasing the finders fee from $100 to $250, reviewing the pay scale to reflect competition for bus drivers and a start-up incentive of $750 to be paid in three increments of $250.
Recommendations for retaining current bus drivers included adjusting driver pay to reflect years of experience on the school system pay scale, buying back sick leave pay in December, providing incentive pay in the form of a cash bonus for perfect attendance and retrofitting school buses with air conditioning.
Superintendent Jody Barrow said he believed the school system could move ahead with the retrofitting, likely at a cost of approximately $6,500 per school bus.
The school system has 258 buses, with many of those smaller buses already equipped with air conditioning. There are approximately 140 larger, un-air-conditioned buses that would need retrofitting.
The school board will study the issue and provide feedback. Barrow will make recommendations at an upcoming board meeting.
Bus drivers are eligible for benefits such as health insurance.
“Last year Gov. Deal wanted to do away with insurance for them, but it didn’t happen. Bus drivers used to get a stipend, like the rest of us [school system employees], that paid for most of the healthcare and dental premium. That was eliminated several years ago for all employees,” said school system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach on Monday.
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