HUDSONVILLE, Mich. — The make, the model and the look of buses may have changed in the last few decades.
“The seat backs are higher because kids are bigger than they were in the 70s and the ceilings are a little higher and more accessible,” Hudsonville Public Schools Transportation Director Rob Mattews said.
Riding the bus to and from school still remains one of the main modes of transportation for students.
That need has caused headaches for many districts around West Michigan.
Hudsonville Public Schools Transportation Director Rob Matthews spent much of the 2021-2022 school year behind the wheel rather than behind his desk as the district was in dire need of more drivers.
His district right now needs up to 10 drivers for the school year and if he isn’t able to fill those positions, it’s all hands on deck- again.
“We had our mechanics driving, our dispatchers driving and I drove nearly every single day last year,” Matthews said.
“We had teachers driving, we had coaches driving, and there still were a couple of days.”
Elsewhere, FOX 17 told you about Thornapple Kellogg Schools letting parents know several routes would be canceled and a walking zone was created to accommodate a shortage.
It’s a battle now for districts to make the position more appealing and that often means raising wages.
“At this point, most school districts are in the neighborhood of $20 dollars an hour for their driving rate,” Matthews said.
“A lot of districts are doing a paid training, or a lot of times it's a stipend to offset the hours that you put in,”
In all, it takes about 100 hours to get your commercial driver's license including a written test and a driving test. Matthews assures though, once training is complete, drivers will be more than ready to hit the road.
“You can hold a Master's degree, you can hold a Ph.D., but that doesn't mean you can drive a school bus, '' Matthews said.
“You have to hold certification from the Department of State from the Department of Education- These are trained professionals.”
