A new report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum found a nearly 20% drop in licensed school bus drivers over the past 15 years.
WXPR spoke with a local bus driver about the shortage’s impact on her work.
“So when one of my friends suggested it, at first, I was like, what, I don't want to be a bus driver, that's kind of nerdy. But the more I thought about it, I was like, this is actually genius.”
That’s LeAnn Ostricki, bus driver with Pape Bus Service from Stratford.
She’s been driving school buses for over 10 years.
Over the past 15 years, the number of licensed school bus drivers in the state dropped about 18%.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum found that more than one-fifth of drivers are 65 years or older.
Without a significant change, bus driver shortages that already impact event schedules are expected to worsen.
Ostricki says that so far, her company has avoided the worst of the shortages, but they’re still affected.
“Every once in a while we do have to have a driver come over from about an hour away to drive for us because we are short. So far, knock on wood, we've been pretty good in our area. But I do realize that not all companies are as fortunate,” she said.
“So for example, if we're short, a driver will schedule a sporting event later, so that somebody can drive their route and then after their route do a sporting event, so a lot of things are juggled that way,” said Ostricki.
WXPR spoke with Wendy Bowen of Bowen’s Bus Servicein August.
Bowen said that the shortage has meant rescheduling and canceling student activities in the Rhinelander school district.
Ostricki said that she believes bus drivers’ low wages contribute to the shortage.
“It's getting harder and harder to have just the bus driving job as a part time job because more people need a full time job longer than just a part time jobs,” she explained.
Ostricki says overall it’s a fun part time job.
“If you're considering being a bus driver, especially if you have kids, or even if you're an aunt or an uncle, just give it a try, because it is really rewarding,” said Ostricki.
“It's really cool to be the last person that they see in the morning before they go to school to kind of set their day up right. And you're also the first person that they see when school is over. When, sometimes, they have a great day and they want to tell you all about it and sometimes you can tell they're just, like, carrying the weight of the world, and then you can kind of ask them about it. So it's kind of cool and rewarding to kind of be the buffer to those kids,” she said.
Bus driver shortages have prompted lots of creative solutions.
Last year, Governor Evers signed a new law allowing school board members to drive voluntarily, given that they have the right licenses and permissions.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum asserts that increasing salaries would help with recruitment, but not every district has the budget for that.
