WEST JORDAN, Utah — Employees in various departments of the Jordan School District are pitching in to help combat a bus driver shortage impacting schools nationwide.
At the conclusion of the last school year, the district offered bus driver training to employees willing to take on the added role.
According to Paul Bergera, the district’s transportation director, 17 employees answered the call. In total, eight completed the training needed to acquire a commercial driver’s license.
“Just a blessing,” Bergera said. “They help us get the water to the end of the road. They help us eliminate the need for double runs. It's just been tremendous.”
Even with the help of those employees, the district is looking to hire 21 more drivers.
Dispatchers and staff at the transportation office have also taken on some of the district’s nearly 200 routes to ease some of the challenges.
Bergera says the district won’t have any issues getting students where they need to go, but a potential outbreak of an illness and a spike in sick calls this coming winter is a big reason why he’d like to see the department fully staffed.
“It’s not my worst nightmare, but yes, certainly it’s an area of concern,” Bergera said.
The district’s audio-visual director, Robert Conder is one employee who completed the bus driver training and certification.
He now has an assigned afternoon route.
“I saw last year, coming into the transportation offices, it’s a ghost town,” Conder said. They’re all out running bus routes and I’m going, ‘Wow. That’s got to be tough.’”
Conder views his added role as helping out the community he loves.
“I figure an extra hour, hour and a half a day – I am already here,” he said. “If I am helping get the kids home, that's great. Helping out fellow employees, that's what it's all about.”
The job pays about $22 per hour. The district will pay those who are hired to complete their training.
Interested candidates can apply here.
