According to the Economic Policy Institute, there is a bus driver shortage. What was nearly 250,000 school bus drivers in 2010 became 188,000 in 2015 and 122,000 in 2021. More than three years later, the crisis is still dire.

Statistics and data, however, pale in comparison to the realities of a situation, as Quitman ISD can attest. Local schools are dealing with this problem, which affects not only administrators, teachers and programming, but perhaps most heavily affects families and students. 

Without school bus drivers, who by law must go through the arduous process of obtaining a commercial drivers license (CDL) certification before being allowed to drive a bus, kids can’t as easily be taken to school, programming becomes more difficult, and the school system suffers.

However, QISD is taking a stand to combat the shortage.

According to Bryan Hurst, who is the QISD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, the school gave each of the 32 CDL holders at QISD a $1,000 stipend this year. The stipend is on top of the per-route fee given to each sub driver, and on top of an additional incentive which is given to those who run multiple routes for the district. Each employee also gets longevity stipends on top of the aforementioned incentives. The district will even cover the cost for interested employees to obtain their CDL.

In other words, QISD has noticed the help that teachers, administrators, coaches and drivers give, and they’re grateful.

According to Hurst, the idea came about when he, Lori Rowland (maintenance and transportation director) and Kari Wilson (director of finance) “were just struggling to find the routes covered to get our kids home.”

“It was really a group effort,” he said. “Mrs. Rowland (asked) me if we could help incentivize our drivers who are giving a lot of their extra time to the district. Mrs. Wilson and myself brainstormed a couple of different avenues and then we presented the idea to Mr. (Chris) Mason (superintendent), and he gave his take on it.”

Last year, which was before the administrative team came up with the idea for a special incentive, Rowland said she “felt the shortage.” 

Now, however, the story is different.

“I don’t feel the shortage as bad anymore since they were given the incentive,” she said. “It’s hard to find drivers…. But we’re not the only ones that have a shortage in drivers. There’s a lot of school districts that (are also struggling). And I believe this will really help a lot, whether they come back driving full-time or not.”

From making sure students get the ride they need to giving all CDL holders a special stipend, Quitman ISD is taking care of its own.

“We’re…help(ing) our people out that are helping out,” said Hurst. “We love our people, and we just want people to be able to stay here,” said Hurst.