"It's a great part-time job," Cameron McNabb, facilities and transportation director, said of school bus drivers.
The Pea Ridge School District currently has two open positions for school bus drivers -- one special education route and one rural route.
"We are always in search of substitutes and trip drivers," McNabb said.
"One the things we can't get is people willing to take trips at night," McNabb said.
"It's a supplemental income -- always has been," he said. "It's cheap insurance."
"It's an hour and a half in the morning and again in the afternoon," he said. The times for driving a route are mornings from 6:15 to 8 a.m. and afternoons from 3 to 4:45 p.m. It's a great job for semi-retirees and farmers, McNabb said. "The earliest driver leaves here about 6:15 in the morning and goes all the way to Gateway. The latest leaves about 7 a.m."
"Pea Ridge Schools will train bus drivers whether they want to drive a route, substitute only, or drive trips. Having licensed and qualified drivers in our community helps ensure we can provide transportation to our patrons."
"Pea Ridge is currently in a rare position of having an adequate amount of equipment but, in an odd twist like every district, we don't have enough qualified drivers," he said.
A bus driver is contracted for 179 days of driving paid over 24 pay periods (every two weeks), according to McNabb, starts at $11,844.13 with annual increases. He said that pay is supplemental pay that "often will not affect retirement or other benefits."
Bus drivers receive all benefits of a public school employee, including paid sick leave, personal leave, summers off with continued pay, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System after five years of service, health insurance, life insurance and disability insurance.
The license qualifications are a Class B Commercial Drivers License with a Passenger endorsement and a School bus endorsement. Drivers must be air brake qualified and pass a physical. Drivers must be at least 21 years of age and be able to pass a background check having no felony convictions or child maltreatment.
McNabb said the district will help train interested persons for the CDL and reimburse costs of the test once it's passed. He said the district will also pay for the physical that's required.
He said the buses are more stable than a 15-passenger van and are similar to driving a large recreational vehicle. "There's better visibility," he said, noting that the driver is sitting up high looking down at the corners of the bus. He said there are seven mirrors on each bus and there are cameras that show behavior and activity on the bus.
"I'd love to get people with school-age children, they could load them up and take them home," he said, adding that parents of athletes would be great as bus drivers for out-of-town athletic events. "They could drive the bus, attend their kid's game, drive back and get paid for it."
"There's a great camaraderie among the drivers," McNabb said. "They come in early and sit around and talk before and after their route."