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Mehlville R-IX board approves $2.30 hourly increase for bus drivers to address shortage
Summary
The Mehlville R-IX School District on June 26 approved a $2.30-per-hour raise to the step 1 bus-driver rate, a move administrators said is intended to reduce unfilled routes and avoid contracting outside vendors.
The Mehlville R-IX School District Board of Education on Thursday approved a $2.30-per-hour increase to the step 1 hourly rate for bus drivers and bus-driver utility drivers for the 2025–26 school year.
The raise moves the step 1 hourly rate from $19.45 to $21.75, with commensurate increases across the district's transportation salary schedule, district officials said. Dr. Shannon Pike, assistant superintendent of human resources, told the board the change is “crucial for addressing a critical and worsening bus driver shortage within the district.”
The board heard from Dan Gilman, director of transportation, that the district faces staffing pressure: the district runs 76 routes and, as of June 20, 2025, had nine primary routes unfilled. Gilman and Pike said the district has tried TV, social media and billboard advertising and open interviews but that applicant numbers have fallen; they reported 13 retirements or resignations in the 2024–25 school year (up from nine the previous year) and that the applicant pool has decreased by roughly 50% compared with the earlier year cited.
Administrators argued a competitive wage will help recruit and retain drivers and is less costly than contracting routes to outside vendors. Pike said stringent hiring requirements — commercial driver’s license, background checks, drug testing and physicals — limit the pool of immediate hires and that raising the starting rate is the most effective near-term step.
Board members pressed on operational impact and community consequences if routes remain unfilled; during discussion they noted that the nine unfilled routes cover three tiers of service, effectively affecting up to 27 individual runs when tiering is considered. Trustees also discussed marketing plans to re-promote the higher starting pay to past applicants and on social media and billboards.
A motion to approve the 2025–26 transportation salary schedule as presented passed unanimously, 7–0.
Administration said increased pay would be posted publicly and used in ongoing recruitment efforts before the school year begins.
