Guilford County Schools reports driver shortage, aging fleet and plans for cleaner buses

Guilford County Schools staff told the Board of Education on May 13 that the district’s transportation operation is constrained by a long‑running driver shortage, an aging fleet of activity buses and limited maintenance capacity — and they laid out near‑term steps to improve reliability and reduce costs.

Transportation presenter Kim Crowder Phillips said the district’s yellow buses have run about 976,500 miles so far this school year, down from 1,150,217 miles the prior year after routing efficiencies. The department reported 60 vacant bus driver positions and more than 40 drivers on leave, and it is operating with a mechanic staff the presentation described as small relative to the district’s 12,000,000 square feet of buildings.

Those staffing and equipment constraints have immediate operational effects: 23 of the district’s 96 activity buses are out of service because of mechanical or safety issues and the average age of that activity‑bus fleet is 23 years. The district said it saved roughly $495,000 a year by bringing van services in‑house and that it now uses one contracted vendor, First Student, for large contracted runs (about 61 buses contracted last year at a cost reported to be over $6 million).

To address short‑ and medium‑term problems, transportation staff described several actions under way or planned: the department has an open request for proposals for routine maintenance vendors; it is transitioning routing to a technology platform called Bus Planner that reduced the student assignment window from about 10 days to 3–5 days; it placed one electric bus on routes in January; and it ordered 10 propane buses as part of a replacement cycle. The district also applied for an EPA Clean Bus rebate in partnership with a vendor for 21 electric buses and received a federal clean‑bus planning grant to prepare an electrification strategy, beginning in the Northern transportation zone.

Staff noted efficiency metrics used by state funding formulae: Guilford’s transportation efficiency rating improved from about 80% to 84.48% — but because the state awards substantially more per pupil to districts at a 90% efficiency rating, the district estimated it would receive about $2.2 million more annually if it reached that level.

Board members pressed on facility and staffing needs. Dr. Monk and the chief financial officer, Tyler Beck, told trustees that deferred capital funding and GAAP accounting rules constrain what bond funds can cover: bond proceeds typically finance capitalized replacements (generally items with useful life beyond one year and above the district’s capitalization threshold) but are not intended to fund routine repairs or staff. Trustees asked for more detail on capital versus repair funding and for clarity about the transportation garage’s needs; staff said the maintenance/transportation facility remains on the bond project list and will be considered for funding.

No board vote was required. Staff will continue recruitment, vendor contracting, bus electrification planning, and public communications about the transportation sign‑up deadline and non‑transport zones.

Speakers

- Kim Crowder Phillips — Transportation staff member, Guilford County Schools (government) - Tyler Beck — Chief Financial Officer, Guilford County Schools (government) - David Reed — Safety and training manager, Transportation (staff) - Mr. Ritchie — Law enforcement liaison (staff) - Board members who asked questions: David Coates, Diane Bellamy Small, Chrissy Pratt, Linda (board members) (government)

Authorities

- statute: "North Carolina General Statute 115C‑246(b) (student transportation distance eligibility)" — referenced_by: ["Kim Crowder Phillips"]

Actions

- motion: "No district vote; informational staff report accepted." mover: null, second: null, vote_record: [], outcome: "no_action", notes: "Staff to proceed with RFP, electrification planning, recruitment and routing changes."

Discussion vs. decision

- discussion_points: ["Driver shortages (60 vacancies, >40 on leave) and aging activity buses (avg. age 23; 23 out of service).","Routing and efficiency improvements reduced annual mileage to 976,500 from 1,150,217 last year.","Use of in‑house van service saved about $495,000 annually; one contracted vendor remains (First Student).","Electrification planning underway; EPA Clean Bus application and a federal planning award."], - directions: ["Continue recruitment for drivers and mechanics; run RFP for maintenance contractors; finalize electrification strategic plan for Northern zone; publicize transportation sign‑up deadline (June 13)."], - decisions: []

Clarifying details

- {"category":"fleet_mileage","detail":"Yellow bus mileage this year vs last","value":976500,"units":"miles","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"fleet_mileage","detail":"Yellow bus mileage prior year","value":1150217,"units":"miles","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"driver_vacancies","detail":"Number of vacant bus driver positions","value":60,"units":"positions","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"drivers_on_leave","detail":"Drivers on leave","value":40,"units":"persons","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"activity_buses","detail":"Activity buses out of service / total","value":"23 out of 96","units":"buses","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"efficiency_rating","detail":"State efficiency rating (current vs target)","value":"84.48% current; 90% target","units":"percent","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"state_funding","detail":"Estimated additional funds at 90% efficiency","value":2200000,"units":"USD","approximate":true,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"procurement","detail":"Order of propane buses","value":10,"units":"buses","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"} - {"category":"grant_application","detail":"EPA Clean Bus rebate application (seeking 21 electric buses)","value":21,"units":"buses","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Kim Crowder Phillips"}

Proper_names

[{"name":"Guilford County Schools","type":"agency"},{"name":"First Student","type":"business"},{"name":"EPA Clean Bus program","type":"program"},{"name":"Bus Planner","type":"other"}]

Community relevance

- geographies: ["Guilford County","Northern transportation zone"], - funding_sources: ["state transportation allocation (DPI)","federal Clean Bus rebate"], - impact_groups: ["students who rely on yellow bus transportation","students in transition protected under McKinney‑Vento act"]

Meeting context

- engagement_level: {"speakers_count":12,"duration_minutes":60,"items_count":1}, - implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2025-05-13","note":"Staff reported driver shortages, fleet aging and electrification planning."}]}

Searchable_tags

["transportation","bus drivers","electric buses","propane buses","first student","Bus Planner","driver vacancies"]

Provenance

- topicintro: [{"block_id":"block_4295.84","local_start":0,"local_end":600,"evidence_excerpt":"Good evening, doctor Oakley, madam chair Hayes, and board members. I am excited to share an update on transportation... As a result of running more efficient routes, our yellow buses have already traveled 976,500 miles this year compared to 1,150,217 last year.","tc_start":"4295.84","tc_end":"4412.58","reason_code":"topicintro"}] - topicfinish: [{"block_id":"block_6463.41","local_start":0,"local_end":950,"evidence_excerpt":"...we are very appreciative of our partnership. We are working toward energy resource and conservation and alignment with board policy... Our first electric bus was placed on a route in January of 2025.","tc_start":"5097.165","tc_end":"5151.2246","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

Salience

{"overall":0.80,"overall_justification":"Operational and budgetary impacts across the district (drivers, fleet, maintenance) with specific funding implications and near‑term actions.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Affects transportation for more than 29,000 riders and district operations.","attention_level":"high","attention_level_justification":"Multiple board questions and follow‑up tasks; grant applications and capital decisions underway.","novelty":0.45,"timeliness_urgency":0.68,"legal_significance":0.30,"budgetary_significance":0.62,"public_safety_risk":0.30,"environmental_impact":0.35,"affected_population_estimate":29381,"affected_population_estimate_justification":"District reported 29,381 actively riding students (figure from staff).","affected_population_confidence":0.6} ,