August 29, 2024
In an effort to attract and retain drivers, the school board approved a new pay scale that went into effect August 1st. Our drivers in training now make $33.20/ hour and move to $35.42/hour once they are licensed. After one year of licensure with the district, drivers move to $39.46/hour. After 20 years, drivers make $42.66/hour. The district offers paid training, flexible schedules for full, part time and sub options, great benefits, and higher hourly pay! We are also offering a $1,000 bonus for any employee who refers a bus driver.
As a result of this increase and the recent ad we ran, one previous driver has returned to the district and one recent retiree returned. We’ve also received 5 applications last week, all of which have been interviewed. Of those applicants, one is ready to drive, and one other needs to renew their bus driving endorsement. The others are interested in training with the district to become drivers. We’ve also had several phone calls from folks who had questions before they were ready to officially apply.
As the process of going from permitted driver to fully licensed can take many months, we are also bolstering our on site training program by bringing one of our retired drivers back in as a trainer for our new employees.
We are excited to announce that we have added Stephanie Hyatt to the operations and transportation team. She will be the main point of contact for families with questions about transportation in the moment. She can be reached at 802-233-0673. Welcome Stephanie! For general questions, please reach out to Jean-Marie Clark, Operations Director at jclark@sbschools.net.
As a result of feedback from families, we are moving away from rolling cancellations. We have instated standard, regular route cancellations. We hope that knowing a certain bus is canceled the same day each week will help our families plan for and make adjustments for transportation.
As the school year begins, please be sure to check our Transportation page and Transportation Updates on the district page. A new, easier to read dashboard is coming soon! You can also access the transportation dashboard (which has info about route changes and cancellations), from both the transportation page and it is linked from the gray buttons on each schools homepage.
What can parents/guardians do?
An important thing to do for the beginning of each school year is to verify and correct your contact information in Powerschool. We use that information to communicate changes and updates to families. Do we have the email address you check most frequently? Do you need to add a new cell phone number? Be sure to check!
You can also advocate for:
State support in incentivising folks getting CDLs and the school bus driver endorsement, supporting training programs for school bus drivers, creating more test locations state-wide, and implementing financial incentives for getting school bus licensure.This is a State issue and we’re all in this together.
Want to hear more updates on transportation? Watch Operations Director, Jean-Marie Clark’s report to the School Board (minute 54.15). We are here to support you and your students and we sincerely apologize for the difficulty so far. Please know that we are taking every possible action to improve transportation
August 19, 2024
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the new 2024-2025 school year! We are excited to welcome and transport your children to our school buildings.
The school bus driver shortage has been an ongoing national and state wide challenge, and our district has been no different. We have doubled down on our efforts this summer to increase our staffing in the transportation department. We have done some major and minor things to improve our situation. You may have seen some of our new marketing in our social media accounts, as well as commercials on our local television stations. We worked with a national bus company to create a partnership with them to provide some route coverage. Unfortunately, they too were unable to locate drivers to assist us. We have also simply reached out to former job applicants from previous years. Additionally, the district enacted an employee referral program, rewarding current employees with a $1000 bonus for each new bus driver they referred to join our team. I know that our current drivers have reached out to their colleagues across the area, encouraging folks to join or rejoin the transportation team.
We are also partnering with the city and Green Mountain Transit to support transporting our students. This is a work in progress, with some future goals. We want the community to know that we are grateful for our community partners who are willing to help us problem solve this crisis.
Our biggest effort has been around increasing our hourly pay rate for bus drivers. We are grateful for our partners with the union and the school board, who helped us craft a new pay structure for our bus drivers. The new pay rate truly recognizes and rewards the bus drivers for the vitally important work they do, as well as positioning the district correctly in this competitive job market.
It is important to note that training a new driver is no small endeavor. Like our students, our drivers learn at all different paces. It can take some just a month or two to become fully licensed, while it can take others much longer. But having safe drivers transporting our children is our highest goal. The goal is not a speedy training program. While we had hoped to start the new school year in a dramatically different position than where we ended, unfortunately, we are not currently in a better position. The good news I bring to the families is that we do have some new candidates in the employment and training process.
We ask that families offer the district and our transportation team some grace as we start this school year with limited staff. We are all very hopeful that our efforts this summer will bring new bus drivers to our district, and our cancellations and accommodations we’ve requested of families will come to an end soon. We also ask that families be our partner! Do you know someone who might be interested in becoming a driver? We have positions that are full and part time! If a bus driver only wants to transport for the regular morning and afternoon runs, we can accommodate. If a driver wants to join our team just to help out with special trips and athletic events, we’d be so excited to have them on our team!
Best,
Jean-Marie Clark
Director of Operations
South Burlington School District
May 23, 2024
As we continue to explore alternate ways to support transportation, we continue to develop Safe Routes to School plans that focus on increasing walking/biking, and with that the implementation of school zones at four of our schools, and looking into partnerships with GMT, as our neighbors in Burlington School District have done.
There is a special City Council meeting on June 3rd where the Safe Routes to School committee will be asking the Council to approve the Resolution for the Establishment of Safe Routes to School Working Group. The agenda for the meeting has not posted, but it can be found here.
Please take a moment to contribute to the "NEW TOOL" map to identify if a street appears to be a safe route for walking or biking to school but lacks a sidewalk. You can also fill out the South Burlington Active Transportation Plan survey to provide input on the plan.
Green Mountain Transit sent an update this week for students who use GMT to get to school:
Starting May 20, 2024, students who utilize GMT buses for their daily commute will be required to inform the bus driver that they are a school student in order to continue receiving free transit service. This change is being implemented to ensure that only eligible students are availing of this benefit and to streamline the process for both students and bus drivers.
We understand that this adjustment may require some additional communication with your child to ensure they are aware of the new requirement. We encourage you to remind them to inform the bus driver of their status as a school student when boarding the bus.
Please note that this change applies specifically to students who utilize GMT buses as part of their transportation to and from school. If your child does not use GMT buses or if they have alternative transportation arrangements, this update does not affect them.