GROVE CITY, Ohio (WCMH) – South Western City Schools is taking a new approach to hiring much-needed bus drivers.
The SWCS district held a “Drive and Hire” event Tuesday at its transportation headquarters, hoping to recruit at least 30 more bus drivers before the start of school in the fall.
The Ohio School Boards Association notes a statewide driver shortage.
The whole process took an applicant about 30 minutes from start to finish. That included a test drive around an obstacle course led by one of the driving instructors.
“Show them exactly what they’re going to get yourself into and giving them a comfort zone so they’ll feel good about their job in the future,” James Morgan, an onboard instructor for South Western City Schools, said.
The district already has about 170 bus drivers on the roster for the fifth-largest school district in the state of Ohio.
When asked if he saw a lot of applicants without experience driving a bus, Morgan said, “Absolutely and I will say this, you don’t have to have any experience. You come in here, I’ll teach you how to drive a bus. Have a lot of pride in my job, and I’ll get you where you need to be. If a person can do a straight line backwards, a school bus, pretty much they’ve got the job.”
Deanna Moore and her son saw the sign for the hiring event and stopped in to test their skills and see if it was something they could do.
“I was kind of nervous about driving the bus, but he made me feel like it was something that I could do and I could succeed at it,” Moore said.
Moore said she had never driven a bus before, but felt like it was something she could pick up quickly with the help of the instructors.
“He was like, ‘OK, your first thing, the brake is most important,’” Moore said. “So, you know, so he went through the and it was a few steps and things that have to be done. Now backing up. That was kind of, you know, that. And so, I was first looking and I’m like, ‘That cone is, I’m on it.’ And he’s like, ‘No,’ but I was looking in the wrong mirror. He told me what I needed to do with him, pressing that brake, that was the most important. When kids are off the bus, which at the door and then have that, the lights had to be on all the time. He said, ‘Go over to the right because you’re going to have to make, it’s like making a U-turn.’ And he was right, you know, without hitting any of the cones, I didn’t hit any of the cones.”
Moore complimented the district for putting together an event to showcase the hands-on work required to be a bus driver.
“I’m unemployed at the moment, so this is the perfect time. I think if more people did this when they’re hiring people, you know, it would be a better working experience,” she said.
The district only hires drivers with a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), so Moore is getting started on the studying process to match the driving.
“It was easier than I expected. Way easier,” Moore said. “We’re heading over to the BMV to get my book so I can at least start, you know, the training process and getting ready so that I can work.”
Driving a bus for a school is one of the most important jobs for the district.
“Bus safety, number one, it’s all about the kids,” Morgan said. “It’s all about taking care of them, making sure those kids are getting back home and getting school. That’s what it’s all about.”
According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, riding a bus to school is about eight times safer for children than riding to school with their parents.
