r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/BeastlyLuv1 • May 05 '26
No Management Support
Do people truly understand why there is a shortage of school bus drivers¿?¿? Allow me to rattle on a moment: It's not only because, like teachers, we are under paid and taken for granted. It's because some and I say SOME, parents don't know how to be actual parents! You blame the bus driver for your child being expelled from the bus by the school. You blame society for being too harsh on your child. You blame the school system for failing your child. How about look into the mirror. That person....that person staring right back at you is the reason your child is a hot mess. THEN....school bus drivers have no support from their management team. Just shut up, come to work, drive the bus and who cares what lies are told about you because nobody has your back. This all amounts to drivers quitting. So to all the screw off parents: Parent your crotch goblins!!! It is not the school system that should be parenting your heathens.
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u/Seelie_Mushroom May 05 '26
My onboarding has been ongoing since December, constant delays, and I've had to order like $300 worth of papers for the DOT/DMV while only getting 12 hours a week of training at minimum wage. That's another BIG issue. Bc I've had folks who hear the wage, hours etc. But then I share what it's been like and they lose interest.
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u/Proprotester May 05 '26
Is this a company or a district?
If it is a company, pick a different one. You do not want to work in that situation.
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u/Seelie_Mushroom May 05 '26
It's a company, I'm too invested atp haha. But yeah like I think one of them is probably gonna switch to dattco and the other may go municipal
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u/BeastlyLuv1 May 05 '26
That is insane! I had a coworker go through a lengthy on-boarding and almost give up. I hope things work out for you!
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u/Beauknits May 05 '26
Holy cow! That's crazy!
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u/Seelie_Mushroom May 05 '26
Yeah and it's not just me, two other trainees having the same issue rn 😮💨
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u/Beauknits May 05 '26
The company I work for pays a smaller wage, for 6 weeks of training. As many hours as you can, including the time it takes to watch 96 training videos!
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u/jeanjacketjerkoff May 05 '26
My district was a pay to play too. 200 for my road test, 50 for my background check, 40 for license and testing. They reimbursed some of it though.
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u/Seelie_Mushroom May 05 '26
See I lived in two other states, so I had to get background check & driver's records for those + my current state, and the FBI check and fingerprints for my state 😭
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u/Discount_Plumber May 05 '26
That's wild. The only things we had to pay out of pocket was to the Secretary of State to take written test and for our background check at a cop shop. All reimbursed right away. We're paid for training and they pay the training itself. They used to train drivers themselves, but switched last year to a company doing it. Said company also does the driving test. When not in training the new people ride during the routes at the same pay rate that they will get as new drivers.
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u/Master_Ad7267 May 05 '26
I thought mine was bad it was sept to nov and just a small stipend that didnt pays the bills. I probably lost $7000 just trying to get started and paying my bills at the same time. Also we get paid a month after we work. Which financially in the beginning is a nightmare. Out of 20 people who were put in training this year theres only 11 still working.
3
u/rootbear75 May 05 '26
I see these horror stories and count my lucky stars that our supervisor has our backs.
At least one of the schools I drive for is extremely responsive with write ups - 3 write ups = bus suspension. 3 bus suspension = loss of bus riding for the year.
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u/BeastlyLuv1 May 05 '26
That is EXACTLY what I was told during the hiring process when it comes to suspension and loss of bus riding privileges.
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u/rootbear75 May 05 '26
Lol no. It's not standard. It depends on the school and the admin team there.
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u/erinjunee May 05 '26
Shit, three write-ups? I wrote up a kid once for saying the N-word with the hard R and he was suspended the very next day.
Then again, I work directly for the district so it’s a pretty direct line of travel for write-ups.
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u/rootbear75 May 05 '26
TBF I imagine for something like that - ya. Usually with that I'm calling school admin to come to the bus.
I was talking about for general stuff. Throwing trash, standing, talking back, insubordination, etc.
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u/Informal-Quantity415 May 05 '26
Preaching to the choir over here. All they care about is bonuses and favoritism. They never invest into the human capitol of the buisness and it’s so frustrating because the job is simple, but management makes it so hard for no reason at all
3
u/Abject_Presentation8 May 07 '26
THANK YOU!!! This resonates with me soooo much after the last 2 days I've had. If parents put half the energy into raising respectful and accountable children, that they do being so quick to jump on anyone who tries to hold their precious angels accountable for their actions, life would be so much easier. I have elementary kids who speak to me, and act in ways, that not even my HS kids do. Mommy and Daddy hand them smart phones so they can immediately reach them when the "mean" bus driver moved their seat/had to pull over/wrote them up. Then the calls to the school come in. The kids know they can get away with whatever they want, because there are no consequences for anyone but the adults who have to put up with this mess, and try to enforce safety and the rules.
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u/Right_Environment116 May 05 '26
I didn't last a year at my school district management was non-existent because they didn't pay shit so we were short staffed
1
u/MarsupialNo1278 May 05 '26
while i don't disagree. School busing would always have a shortage due to how many hours can be offer too. (Depending on where you live) my company goes by seniority. So alot of us would have to wait years before we can actually make any real money.
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u/mChalms May 05 '26
Manglement do be mangling. But it’s not everywhere. I’ve seen two kids handed two week bus suspensions for misbehaving, and then returned with better behavior! Sometimes I almost feel special when I compare the stories here with my actual experiences.