School bus drivers in Charles County, Maryland, let families know on Monday that there might not be enough of them on the road in time for the first day of school amid an impasse over better pay and job security.
By Tuesday, Charles County Public Schools said they had come to a short-term agreement with the bus contractors, meeting many of their demands for increased pay and giving the school system more time to negotiate a contract.
A statement from the school system outlined how there should be reliable bus service when school starts on Aug. 28 for the more than 23,000 students in the county that use the service to get to school.
The Charles County School Bus Contractors Association said the school system was refusing “to treat bus drivers and attendants in an equitable manner” in an earlier news release.
The association is made up of transportation companies that employ contracted school bus drivers, who drive the majority of school bus routes in Charles County.
School system agrees to pay increase, minimum hours
CCPS said in their press release that they would be working on a multi-year transportation agreement with school bus contractors and had been given a 45-day window to address their concerns and create that contract.
The school system said they would be implementing many of the contracted drivers’ demands, including drivers being guaranteed eight hours of pay if they work for four hours or more and better job security with a possible multi-year contract.
According to the bus drivers’ association, its contract negotiations with the county’s Board of Education had reached a standstill on Monday before coming to a short-term agreement during a fifth meeting.
CCPS said they do not anticipate any bus service interruptions anymore, and highlighted how they have begun school years before “without signed bus contract agreements in place and full transportation service continued.”
Board recently approved cost-of-living adjustments
This new breakthrough in negotiations comes shortly after the county’s Board of Education approved an increase in the cost-of-living adjustment for contracted bus drivers and attendants, raising compensation rates from 2% to 5%.
Drivers and attendants who work less than four hours, under the new agreement for the coming school year, will be paid for six hours and receive a 5% adjustment.
This is not the first time contracted Charles County bus drivers have organized for more labor benefits. In October 2021, some students spent several days attending classes virtually after a bus driver sickout canceled hundreds of routes.
School buses are run on a hybrid model in Charles County. Alongside the 358 vehicles operated by contracted bus drivers, the school system has its own fleet of 30 buses. Those drivers are guaranteed an eight-hour work day and school benefits, while contractors are not.
WTOP’s Jack Moore and Kate Corliss contributed to this report.
