Vermilion to cut bus routes for 9-12 graders

VERMILION — High schoolers are looking for alternative transportation to school this fall after officials announced they would temporarily suspend bus service. A shortage of bus drivers is forcing Vermilion Schools to cut bus service to students in grades nine through 12, Superintendent David Hile announced in an email sent to parents and guardians Monday. Students return to class Aug. 21. Vermilion High School includes eighth-grade students as well, and students from fourth grade through seniors have always ridden on the same bus routes. But in recent years driver shortages have forced many changes, Hile said. "We had 18 routes (18 drivers) and we have consolidated down to 12 right now. My director of transportation, plus my bus mechanics, have been driving every day, and really they're subs that got put in that position because they had to be," he said. A mechanic left in spring and one retired at the end of last year, and the district hasn't found replacements. Last week another mechanic resigned, and a driver recently developed a medical issue that will now prevent them from driving in the future, forcing the change, Hile said. "It just hit that critical point, now we're down three drivers — if people call off, we don't have anybody to cover those routes," he said. The decision to drop the upper grade levels is based on capacity on the buses, and affects about 520 students. Students who attend EHOVE Career Center will still be bused from Vermilion High School to EHOVE. He said the change is temporary, and hopefully service will return once staffing is back to adequate levels. That may not be solved any time soon. The district hasn't been able to attract adequate staffing for some time. All summer the district has parked its big yellow school buses at prominent locations around town and hung a banner on the side, asking people to apply to be a bus driver, including at the school's football stadium. It's not just a Vermilion problem, Hile said. "I think you can talk to any superintendent in Ohio or anywhere and they've been dealing with this every day, he said." The Economic Policy Institute noted last fall there were 12.2 percent fewer school bus drivers nationally than there were in September 2019. And wages had fallen 2.8 percent since 2019 as well. Since 2023, the median school bus driver earned 43 percent less than the median weekly wage for all workers, the report said, another challenge to fill the position. The job is a hard one to fill, but it was doubly hard to fill once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Hile said. When the minimum wage went up across the board, people generally stopped taking the job, particularly since it requires so much to to qualify including at minimum four written tests, "which aren't easy," he said." In his previous job as the head of Licking Valley Schools, he was going to take them himself, to certify as a backup relief driver. The job requires applicants to acquire a commercial driver's license (CDL) specific to driving a school bus, a driver's exam on the bus, 15 hours of classroom instruction and 12 hours of driving instruction. "We want them to be highly qualified of course but it does create barriers for applicants who want to be ready to make a paycheck right away and then they find out they are going to be waiting two, three months to be hired," he said. "Most jobs don't require you to get a CDL, 27 hours of instruction and drive a bus down the road with 40 kids behind you," he said. "I think there are a lot of factors that have created this." Drivers are paid hourly at rates between $20 and $24.45 an hour, but schedules vary. Hile said the position is not really considered full time due to the nature of the job, but the health care and retirement benefits are excellent. "But if you like kids, and interacting with kids and families, it's a great job." For information, visit vermilionschools.org or the district Facebook page. Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.