Nancy Edmonds Hanso

Buses await the first day of school in the Moorhead Operations Center bus barn. (Photo/Nancy Hanson.)

With the first day of school just 10 days away, many Moorhead parents are being asked to step up to get their students to school.

In past years, K-12 students who live more than one mile from their schools have been able to ride the bus. But last week, the Moorhead School Board approved changes that include making parents of Horizon Middle School and Moorhead High School students who live within two miles responsible for their own children’s transportation.

Transportation of children in kindergarten through fourth grade will continue at the same one-mile level as in the past.

Other changes include increasing the number of students on some buses from 55 to 70 or more, and the combination of some rural routes. That reworking means longer ride times. The two-mile rule also applies to private school students; private school routes will be combined with public busing.

Transport of special education students is presenting challenges, too, but no changes are being made. “We have eight and need nine,” the director says. “We’re right on the cusp.” One new driver is currently in training for the required Class B license with school bus and passenger endorsements.

It’s all due to the ongoing shortage of qualified bus drivers. Director of operations Steve Moore says, “This is not what we want, but we’re just out of bus space on the general education side.

“As we’re able to add drivers, we’ll go back to one mile as quickly as we can.” He adds, “We hope to be back to where we were last year by the beginning of November before winter weather really arrives.”

In the meantime, school principals are working to find ways to ease the inevitable congestion at the schools when parents deliver and retrieve their offspring. The district is surveying families about the possible need for early-morning or after-school programming to accommodate the demands of parents’ work schedules.

The school district, like its counterparts in Fargo and West Fargo and, indeed, throughout the region, has been searching to recruit drivers for the past several years. Moorhead’s roster was down seven for the 2021-2022 school year, Moore says, “but we were able to absorb that into the system.” The district maintained the same level of service as in past years through “creative routing,” he explains, along with some consolidation of routes.

But the bus operation is heading into 2022-2023 another seven drivers short – 14 fewer than the optimum number. “We lost seven more over the summer,” transportation supervisor Sean Schneider reports.

While several new hires are involved in the month-long training program needed to legally drive students, the district continues to look for new hands to take the wheel. Buses continue to beckon drivers along major Moorhead roadways, touting the benefits of driving for the district and its three contractors.

“This is an urgent call to service,” Schneider emphasizes. “If the Extra’s readers are willing and able to drive, we need them now. Give us a call!”

Moore says he and his staff are talking to anybody and everybody who expresses an interest – young or old, looking for a 20-hour-a-week supplemental income or searching for full-time employment. Wages under the district’s new contract start at $19.28 per hour and go up from there.

One impediment to recruitment, the two men agree, is that drivers are scheduled for just 20 hours a week. “If you’re supporting a family, you need more,” Moore concedes. That has prompted them to create hybrid positions that combine the picking up and dropping off with other work during the rest of the day – custodial or food service positions, for example.

“We’re willing to work around their personal schedules, too,” he says. “If someone wants to work two or three days a week, we’ll take them. We’ll fit those pieces together in whatever way works for them.”

While most of the district’s drivers are over 50, including many who have retired from other jobs, Schneider and Moore insist they have no particular “type” in mind. “We always look at retirees because of their flexible schedules and interest in augmenting their income,” Moore says. “But we’re open. A stay-at-home mom or dad can do this and make some extra money – get out of the house while their kids are in school.”

State and federal requirements mean that not just anyone can climb aboard and take off. He points out that less stringent regulations west of the Red River have helped his Fargo and West Fargo counterparts to some degree. Training is available from the Moorhead schools, however, at no cost to the prospective drivers … and they receive their full salaries while they ready to take the tests for Class B licensure.

To learn more and apply for the open positions, call the school district and any of its contractors: Moorhead Area Public Schools, 218-284-1400. Richards Transportation, 218-233-3404. Schuck Bus Services, 218-233-1402. Red River Trails, 218-236-0300.