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Bus driver urges board to consult transportation staff on pay, retention and budget
Summary
Heather Wenschel, a long-time district bus driver, told the board she works multiple jobs and urged members to visit the transportation office and consult drivers as the budget committee discusses next year’s 2700 function; she emphasized drivers’ experience and urged the district to consider retention when setting wages.
Heather Wenschel, a bus driver for the district, used the public-comment period on May 4 to urge the Merrimack Valley School Board to consult transportation staff as the district prepares next year’s budget.
Wenschel said she works multiple jobs and "lives paycheck to paycheck," noting she has spent many years as a driver and that drivers bring experience that matters for safety and reliability. She described receiving a letter from a middle-school student thanking her for driving that child to and from school and said such relationships motivate drivers to stay.
Wenschel asked the board to come to the transportation office and speak with drivers, saying, "Come knock on our door. We'll let you in the building. We don't bite." She urged board members to consider drivers’ experience as the budget committee discusses the district’s 2700 function and to seek input from staff when making staffing and pay decisions.
The chair indicated public-comment time limits (three minutes) and the board closed public comment to move into a nonpublic session on personnel matters later in the meeting. The board did not take public action on wages or staffing during the May 4 public session.
Wenschel’s remarks highlighted retention concerns and asked the board for transparency and engagement with transportation staff during budget deliberations.
