WACO, Texas (KXXV) — This is the first school year in three decades that Waco ISD has hired their own bus drivers.
25 News spoke with the Director of Transportation, who says the transition has been going smoothly.
Waco ISD now employs 40 of their own school bus drivers — the first time that has happened in 30 years.
"It’s going well — we made a lot of preparations and things are rolling. We’re doing a good job," said Waco ISD Director of Transportation, Dr. Ricky Edison.
They made the switch to combat the shortage of bus drivers, and during the transition, they’ve started paying drivers more starting at $27 an hour — which is a $5.50/an hour raise.
"We’ve hired over 10 new drivers — we are the highest paying in the district," Edison said.
Waco ISD has also added eight cameras to each bus, has implemented GPS systems for the drivers, and added new routes — now they run 40 routes instead of 36.
Students must register for the bus now, which goes into a routing software.
While Waco ISD is fully staffed, they are always looking for new drivers who are CDL certified.
"If anyone is certified, we can find something for them here," Edison said.
If you are interested in becoming a driver, click here.
