Highland raises activity bus driver pay

The Highland school board raised the pay of its bus drivers for activity transportation from $13.50 to $15 at a meeting Monday night.

“We’re still struggling a little bit with bus drivers, and we’re trying to figure out ways that we can kind of sweeten the pot,” Superintendent Ken Crawford said. “We talked to a few bus drivers and they felt that the $13.50 they were getting for activities, not for routes, was a little low compared to towns around us.”

Crawford said he didn’t expect the move to break the bank.

“I put numbers to it,” he said. “The amount of money that we would spend extra if we did the same amount of hours would not amount to much.”

The move comes as districts across Iowa deal with bus driver shortages.

Online position postings through TeachIowa.gov show that WACO, Mt. Pleasant, Winfield-Mt. Union, Keota and Washington school districts are looking to fill bus driver positions.

“I’ve heard Cedar Rapids is down a couple dozen drivers. We’re fortunate right now, but if I have to I’ll talk about options,” Crawford said. “Right now, I think this is the first step toward showing them that we are serious about them driving, and kind of a thank you as well.”