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Grants-Cibola County Schools board approves pay raise for bus drivers to address shortage
Summary
The Grants-Cibola County Schools board approved a memorandum of understanding to raise starting pay for CDL bus drivers from about $19 to $25 an hour, add hard-to-fill bonuses and fund CDL training, aiming to reduce charter costs and fill activity-driver vacancies.
The Grants-Cibola County Schools board approved a memorandum of understanding to raise starting pay for CDL bus drivers and add hard-to-fill bonuses, the board announced at its evening meeting.
Superintendent Weidner recommended the board approve the MOU to adopt the district's transportation salary schedule, and the motion was moved by Missus Hunt Daley and seconded by Vice President Jaramillo. After brief discussion about driver shortages and the district's use of charter buses for activities, the board conducted a roll-call vote and the chair announced, "The motion carries." (Missus Sandoval conducted the roll call.)
The MOU increases the posted starting hourly wage for bus drivers from roughly $19 to $25 and includes additional "hard-to-fill" bonuses, according to the document presented to the board. Superintendent Weidner said the district will pay for CDL training and the required physicals to help recruit new drivers, and that the raise is intended to reduce the district's need to charter buses for athletic trips and other extracurricular transportation.
Board members discussed the shortage of activity drivers and the district's reliance on chartered buses from Albuquerque and Santa Fe when local drivers are unavailable. Weidner said the district is seeking at least four additional activity drivers and that the pay increase and training support should make positions more attractive.
The MOU was signed by district and union representatives and the board authorized members to sign after approval; the superintendent said the salary schedule would be posted on the district website following the vote. The board also directed staff to publish hiring information and continued outreach to potential drivers.
The board approved the MOU by roll-call vote; the chair announced the motion carried at the meeting's vote. The district did not read a full, named roll-call tally on the record in the transcript, but the board confirmed approval during the meeting.
