Snohomish School District reports fleet upgrades, driver hiring gains and uncertain grant funds

Tom, the district transportation lead, and Veronica O., Director of Transportation, updated the Snohomish School District Board of Directors on Feb. 12 on staffing, fleet composition and funding for school transportation.

The presentation said the department employs about 88 staff across drivers, mechanics, routers, administrators and trainers and has hired 13 drivers since last summer. The district runs 75 buses for regular routes and now uses gasoline, propane or electric buses for normal service; diesel buses remain only as spares, the presentation said. Board members were told four regular routes currently lack a permanent driver but staff expect to fill them by fall.

The update included details on recent purchases and pending orders. The district has added six propane buses and has two buses on order: one electric bus tied to a federal grant and one diesel Type C bus received as a trade. Veronica said the vendor that will receive the grant has not yet been able to access the awarded funds, and that if grant dollars do not materialize the district will decide whether to use its vehicle fund to proceed. The transportation vehicle fund balance was reported at about $3,700,000 in December; six years earlier it had been about $3,300,000.

Staff provided ridership numbers: 7,276 students rode district transportation during winter counts, a slight decline from the prior year, and the district served about 30 more special-needs riders this winter (including special education and McKinney-Vento students). The department reported driving roughly 200,000 fewer miles compared with a prior period, and said fuel-cost shifts tied to moving away from diesel produced about $400,000 less diesel expense and about $200,000 higher propane costs compared with an earlier year.

Board members asked about the source of the recent hiring surge and how the district covered trips when drivers were short. Veronica said continued, refreshed job postings on recruitment platforms, walk-in applicants and referrals helped; she also said the district has used a larger pool of substitute drivers to cover field trips and activities and that emergency staffing contracts previously used are no longer in place. Tom said the district will return to the board for approval before placing any new bus orders if the board’s authorization is required.

The presentation noted outstanding grants for two additional electric buses and five more propane buses; staff said the federal grant landscape is in flux and the district will monitor availability.

The board did not take an action on the presentation, which was provided as an informational update.