Board approves new bus-driver attendance and recognition program; fleet repainting deferred pending surplus sales

The Caswell County Schools board approved changes to the bus-driver recognition and bonus program, and staff briefed the board on a separate transportation-fleet repainting and surplus strategy.

Transportation staff described that the existing $50 perfect-attendance bonus was no longer working as intended and proposed a revised package: monthly "driver of the month" certificates and a $100 monthly award, a driver-of-the-year selection process with peer input, and an annual $500 perfect-attendance award for drivers who achieve full-year perfect attendance. Staff presented a budget estimate for the revised program and said the total annual cost would be roughly $5,932 under the proposed pilot — a savings compared with last year’s expenditures when measured against additional proposed incentives. The board moved and approved the program as a pilot and asked staff to develop objective selection criteria and a scoring/checklist sheet for evaluation.

Board members also reviewed the condition of several district vehicles and activity buses, including an activity bus whose hood and panels had seriously degraded. Staff presented vendor quotes: an estimate of $8,762.04 from White's International to repaint a bus and a $17,760 quote from Thomas Bus; repainting for five non-bus vehicles was estimated at about $4,353. Staff recommended selling two older activity buses when the replacement bus arrives and using the proceeds to repaint and maintain the remaining activity bus (brief details: vehicles referenced by fleet numbers in the transcript). The board did not authorize immediate repainting; instead members asked staff to return with a finalized plan and to list surplus vehicles for sale once the new activity bus arrives.