CAMPBELL COUNTY, Ky. — Bus drivers at one northern Kentucky school district say they’re not being fairly compensated, and that they will not show up to work this school year unless something changes.
What You Need To Know
- Campbell County School District transportation employees say they are underpaid
- Over 90 employees signed a petition raising concerns about pay, which was presented to the school board
- Employees say if they aren’t fairly compensated, they won’t show up to drive kids to school when the new school year starts
- Two Campbell County High School students say they hope the issue is resolved
Campbell County School District bus driver Don Schmidt spoke at the district’s school board meeting on Monday.
“My name’s Don Schmidt, and I’m here tonight with our bus drivers and monitors to publicly protest the amended salary schedule for the upcoming school year,” he said.
Schmidt said pay scales for certified employees, which include teachers, principals and administrators, are within 1% of other districts. Classified employees, such as drivers and monitors, have been significantly lower since 2019, he said.
Campbell County bus drivers are 10.4% behind Kenton County bus drivers in pay, with monitors 11.7% behind.
Schmidt said that since 2019, school bus drivers in Kenton County have received a 13.76% pay increase. Boone County school bus drivers received a 14.51% increase in the same time frame. And his fellow Campbell County school bus drivers, Schmidt said, received a 3.9% increase, an average of 22 cents a year.
“Yet, Campbell County is advertising competitive wages for drivers currently. Being last in regional hourly pay doesn’t seem competitive. Especially with these jobs being designated as a critical shortage area, both in Kentucky and nationally,” Schmidt said.
On May 24, over 90 Campbell County transportation employees signed a petition addressing their concerns, which was presented to the school board.
“We felt the response was essentially dismissive. We’ve completed our physicals and annual training to be prepared for the start of school. However, unless we receive equal compensation with other districts, as outlined in the petition, a significant number of drivers and monitors will not be on hand Aug. 10 to pick up or deliver students until our pay is addressed to our satisfaction. We felt it only fair to let parents and the public know of our intentions,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said Kentucky has some of the highest standards nationally for transporting students.
Besides initial classroom and field training, transportation employees are required annually to complete an eight-hour update of first aid training and emergency medication training.
They must also be certified every two years in CPR. Drivers are subject to multiple random drug and alcohol screening throughout the year, and must complete a DOT physical, not every two years as do other licensed CDL holders, but every year.
“We are not only responsible for transporting students safely, but we must also communicate effectively with students, parents and administrators,” Schmidt said. “We show up in the heat of summer when temperatures routinely climb 100 degrees inside our buses. And in the coldest mornings in the winter. We comfort and care for students with nosebleeds and even more severe medical conditions. We are drivers, caretakers and nurses, all without complaints, because we truly love and take pride in our jobs.”
The Campbell County School District denied Spectrum News 1’s request for an interview on the topic Tuesday. A district spokesperson instead referred to the district’s statement:
On May 24, our bus drivers and monitors came to us with concerns about their pay. Our board, after the tentative budget was set, re-visited our classified hourly rates. This was unprecedented and resulted in many substantial raises for our classified employees. They wanted all classified hourly employees to be equally competitive within the region. This work resulted in monitors receiving an 11.8% increase along with their 1.5% step increase. Drivers’ salaries were more competitive than other positions within the region. They received an additional 1% in June. Their total increase this year is 3.5% with step. We also gave a $500 bonus last year to all employees due to the impact of working through the tough COVID times. All full and part-time employees receive health benefits, vision and dental. We also pay for drivers’ required annual physical exams and provide tremendous support with monitors on the majority of our buses. All of our buses have multiple cameras for driver and student safety and we keep our fleet up to date with a proactive purchasing plan. These are just some of the advantages of being employed as a driver in our district.
Our board has stated that they want to remain competitive and they know that we will need to revisit the classified hourly pay scales this year.
We are currently revisiting routes, actively working with the transportation department to find areas where we can increase efficiency, we are looking for drivers, and we are listening.
We do not want our families, students and staff impacted negatively. We will continue to work with the transportation department and plan for a great year.
Campbell County High School students Mason Moore and Brayden Wells don’t ride the bus to school anymore, but both said they have splendid memories doing so, and hope the issue is quickly resolved.
“Around town, everybody’s upset about it,” Moore said. “It needs to be better, because without school, the next generation isn’t gonna be great. And we need to make this world a better place.”
Moore said he feels for the drivers and monitors.
“With the higher fuel prices, all the meat’s so expensive, we have to have some more money to live, so I think they need to be paid a lot more,” he said. “I think it will get resolved, just because kids need to be in school, and everybody agrees on that.”
Wells said he’s also sympathetic.
“I like some of the bus drivers. Some of the bus drivers are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They should definitely get a little bit more pay. They’re trying to supply for their families just as everyone else is,” he said. “I play baseball, and our bus driver for baseball, she’s the best bus driver ever. We made it to state this year. She bought us cookies for the first round of state. I mean, that was coming out of her own pocket. So they do things to help the kids, so they definitely should get something out of it.”
A Campbell County School District bus driver who wanted to remain anonymous told Spectrum News 1: “[We think] the school board is dug in and will call our bluff. Except that it isn’t a bluff. Now the drivers are getting mad, I think. If we don’t drive on opening day, the school will be besieged with calls from irate parents. Then something will have to give. We have the option of unionizing, but I don’t see a lot of interest in that. I guess they have the option of firing all of us and getting a private bus company to replace us, but I doubt that can be done overnight.”