County bus contractor raises pay, adds parent notification app to ease routing and delays

Durham School Services’ local manager told the Warren County School Board the company has increased starting pay, is nearly fully staffed and will roll out a parent notification app called Bus Zones on Dec. 1, 2025.

The update came during the board’s operations report when Tanya Raider, introduced as general manager for Warren County from Durham School Services, gave a line-by-line summary of routes, staffing and upcoming communication tools. “At Durham School Services, our mission is to get all students to school safely, on time, and ready to learn. And then return your students back to you safely each day,” Raider said.

Raider said the contractor operates 55 routes for the district — 45 regular education routes and 10 special education routes — with 52 drivers, five “cab” drivers, 12 aides and three drivers in training; three additional candidates remain in the hiring pipeline. To recruit and retain staff, the company raised starting pay from $13 to $16 an hour this year and is advertising through radio, mobile billboards and off-site recruiting.

The company also confirmed tiered hiring bonuses: $1,000 for non-CDL drivers, $1,500 for CDL drivers without endorsements and $2,500 for CDL drivers with P and S endorsements. Durham said it has six certified trainers and offers paid training and a ride-along program once employees meet hiring requirements.

On communication, Raider announced a new app, Bus Zones, will be available to families on Dec. 1, 2025. Parents who sign up can receive text and email notifications when a bus is nearing their selected zone and when the bus arrives at school; the app will also be used to notify registered parents of late buses, breakdowns or route changes. Raider said the district will send information home with all students explaining how to set up the app.

Board members responded positively. One board member said the app will help single parents and grandparents who previously relied on informal channels, and the school system offered to publicize the rollout.

The district and contractor said the November start date for some paving and other logistics work will affect a small number of transportation timelines but did not change the planned app launch.

The contractor did not provide an exact estimate of the app’s expected adoption rate; district staff said they will distribute setup instructions to every family.

Ending: Durham School Services said it is close to staffing all routes and will send detailed app setup instructions to families through the district. The board asked staff to assist with publicizing the Bus Zones rollout.