VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The first day of school is right around the corner and many parents in Hampton Roads are starting to plan how their children will get to school and back.
School leaders across the area said the bus driver shortage is a lot better this year. But many school divisions are still hiring, some even offering sign-on bonuses to encourage prospective drivers to apply.
John Mangus has worked as a bus driver for 10 years.
“What other job can you have where you get the summer off, if you can take it?" Mangus asked.
But it’s not just the perks of the job that keep him coming back to Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
“Honestly, the biggest reason I’m here? It’s real simple: I love kids," Mangus said.
Cris Sprouse, the special education coordinator at Virginia Beach City Public Schools, said they start drivers at $21.49 an hour.
His division has one of the highest starting salaries for bus drivers in Hampton Roads. He said through recruitment and training over the past year, his division has finally filled every bus driver vacancy.
“We will have a driver on every run on the first day of school," he said.
But with the first day of school right around the corner, there is one job they’re still hiring for.
“We have a big shortage of bus assistants," Sprouse said. "Their jobs are just as important as driving the bus.”
Virginia Beach is looking for 60 bus assistants, people who primarily help special needs students.
Despite this shortage, Mangus said things are still looking better than in years past.
“It was hard," Mangus said. "I think we were down 100-plus drivers two years ago. Everybody was, from day-in to day-out, at the brink."
This time last year: Virginia Beach needed 140 bus drivers, Chesapeake needed 120, and Newport News needed just over 100 drivers.
“The school bus driver shortage is a national issue," Sprouse said. "It’s just not Virginia Beach, it’s our local Hampton Roads schools. Everybody is short.”
And just about every division is still hiring.
Newport News Public Schools has more than 70 bus driver vacancies. Pay starts around $20 an hour and administrators are offering a $2,000 sign-on bonus.
Hampton also has a sign-on bonus: That school division has 10 bus driver openings with pay starting at just under $22 an hour with a $750 sign-on bonus.
In Chesapeake, school officials say they have 77 bus driver vacancies.
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools has five driver openings.
Over in Portsmouth, school administrators say they “strategically” condensed bus routes throughout the city to combat high driver vacancies, so they have a driver for every route.
13News Now reached out to Norfolk and Suffolk about bus driver openings but has not heard back.
As school divisions head into the new school year, there is one message bus drivers want you to keep in mind: “Bus drivers are people, too," Mangus said.
He continued: "Sometimes we just need a nice ‘Hello, thank you.’ As well as we give it right back to you... It might have been tough, but everything is going to be great moving forward."
And just a reminder, parents dealing with bus delays and driver shortages can always drop their children off at school.