![]() The job also involves much more than driving. “That’s really hard, so I do understand people going somewhere else.” “When the kids are out of school, we don’t get paid,” she says. The pay gaps require some disciplined budgeting, even for someone like Suzanne Adams who is at the top of the pay scale. There are some work opportunities during the summer, but those are offered based on seniority and are hardly full-time. For many, it’s not getting paid during all the breaks - spring break, fall break and Christmas break. The pre-dawn start-time isn’t the hardest part. “You have to wake up extra early in the morning…so it’s hard for them, too.” “It is a hard job,” the Overton sophomore says. But Souleen Ramazan, who rides on Adams’ bus, says she understands. ![]() Annoyed parents found ways to drive their kids to school. Kids were left waiting and showing up to class after the bell rang. I was doing six and a half in the morning, and six in the afternoon,” she says. “You should be doing three routes in the morning and three in the afternoon. Supervisors have been forced to get behind the wheel on many mornings.Īs veteran driver Suzanne Adams drops off a load at Overton High School, she explains how earlier this year the south Nashville school had 10 routes with no dedicated drivers. ![]() “I’ve got three more stops left.”Īs of mid-December, Metro Schools has 550 slots and only 440 drivers, and that’s when no one calls in sick. You want me to go pick up at Lakewalk?” one bus driver asks. “I just finished unloading at Mount View for my route. The frustration is audible in the radio chatter between drivers. So at this point, everyone is covering for someone. Nashville’s public schools have nearly 25 percent of their positions unfilled. When a school district has a vacancy rate of 16 percent, it’s considered “desperate” for bus drivers.
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