Board approves director of transportation job description as district presses to fill bus drivers

The Kanawha County Board of Education approved a revised job description for the director of transportation in enclosure 17 and discussed ongoing bus driver recruitment and routing improvements. Board members and Director of Transportation candidate Mr. Redmond described the transportation department as one of the district’s largest and said the new professional position is intended to improve communication with parents and schools, manage routing and support driver recruitment. “There's really I think in the last year and a half since I took the job ... I've been trying to fill that and I think our communication with schools with the schools themselves has gone great,” Mr. Redmond said. “We, we have we've been able to hire certified bus drivers for every position. I think we have we've hired 2 new people into the system, had 2 transfers ... We have 7 people on the certification process and then 6 more to start a class Monday.” Board members said they hope the new position will reduce early-term problems and frustration and improve parent and school communications when routes or closures change. The board approved the job description by motion and voice vote; members recorded ayes and no amendments were reported. Superintendent and other board members noted hiring progress and that Mr. Redmond had streamlined hiring and training processes to increase efficiency. The board did not set additional formal directions in the meeting beyond approving the job description; implementation and hiring remain tasks for transportation administration.