SNOW HILL– Bus drivers will not receive the pay increase they asked for from Worcester County.
A motion to increase mileage and hourly pay rates for local school bus contractors failed with a 3-4 vote during a budget work session held by the Worcester County Commissioners Tuesday. Commissioner Ted Elder, a retired bus driver, advocated for a slight increase for bus contractors but failed to get enough support from his peers.
“Next year you’re going to have an issue with people getting to school and I’ll be the one to say I told you so,” Elder said.
Representatives of the Worcester County School Bus Contactors Association (WCSBCA) approached both the school board and the commissioners this spring advocating for a pay increase. While the school system’s budget includes some increases for bus drivers, WCSBCA representatives said those increases weren’t enough to cover rapidly rising costs. They asked the commissioners to consider bumping their hourly rate to $26.29 and their mileage rate to $1.80.
At Tuesday’s budget work session, Elder proposed using roughly $135,000 from the county’s general fund to supplement the $25/hour and $1.62/mile the school system plans to pay drivers. He said the additional funds would allow for an hourly rate of $26 and mileage of $1.65. He said the increase, though not what was requested by contractors, was something and would help combat rising expenses.
since diesel has doubled maybe the commissioners would like to drive the kids to school
They may have to. With the price of diesel fuel, the bus contractors simply must h ave a raise or good-bye drivers.