FRISCO - The bus ride to school in the morning may take some Summit County students significantly longer this fall if the school district is unable to find enough qualified bus drivers to fill vacant positions.

Because of a shortage of drivers, the district will start school on Aug. 24 with five fewer routes than last year. All previous bus stops will continue to be served, but some loops will take much longer because they will now be mergers of two of last year's routes.

School bus service to the northern end of the county, for example, will now be merged with service along Brian Avenue past Sierra Madre in Silverthorne. The overflow bus through Dillon Valley will be suspended and routes in Breckenridge and Summit Cove will be consolidated with other loops.

The five necessary route mergers will require some students to be at their bus stops earlier and will cause them to get home later in the afternoon. And all the buses on the routes involved will be more crowded. The district's school buses have a capacity for 78 riders, with three kids to a seat. Last year, no bus ever carried more than 52 kids at a time.

"This year we'll for sure have a bus with 78 on it," school district transportation director Nancy Schnabel said.

Schnabel attributes the current shortage of drivers to a smaller available labor pool. Although the district pays wages comparable to those offered by the Summit Stage and the town of Breckenridge, her department lost nine of its 26 drivers at the end of last year.

"We've only had three applications (for those vacancies)," she said. "And we hired all three."

Both Schnabel and driver trainer Deb Estreich are concerned that, if they lose any of the drivers they have now, they won't be able to maintain current routes, and further consolidation isn't feasible given the existing school starting times.

"We don't want to have to cut services, considering the layout of the county," Estreich said.

The usual retention rate for new-hire drivers is about 50 percent, so the pressure is on this fall's three new drivers.

"If we lose 50 percent this year, we'll be hurting," Schnabel said.

Schnabel has been with the department for 22 years and says this year's shortage is the worst since drivers received a major pay hike several years ago. Today's drivers start at $14.65 an hour, with a substantial benefits package.

Because of the nature of school-bus driving, most drivers work split shifts, with three hours in the morning and three in the afternoon. Buses only run when kids are in school, so, although the hourly pay is competitive, it's really a "part-part-time job," Schnabel said.

"Some of our more successful drivers have a side business," Estreich said. "One is a housing inspector and one is a window washer."

Both Schnabel and Estreich agreed that school-bus driving demands a variety of talents. Good drivers are reliable, independent thinkers and self-motivated. And, most importantly, they have to like kids.

School superintendent Millie Hamner said the district is doing everything possible to fill the vacancies. Unless more applicants come forward, she admitted that some kids "may be a little late getting into school."

Hamner expressed concern that the district's bus driver shortage is just an early symptom of a growing problem.

"I think this is pointing out how difficult it is to live in Summit County, even if we pay market salaries," she said. "I'm afraid this is just the beginning of the challenges we're going to face as the cost of living continues to increase."

According to Hamner, the district has been able to fill 99 percent of its teaching positions so far, but she expressed uncertainty about the future.

"It's going to be an issue for us," she said, referring to a potential teacher shortage. "It's just a matter of time."



Potential driver applicants can call the transportation office at (970) 668-3015 for more information. The district provides training and assists new hires to obtain their commercial driver's licenses.



Harriet Hamilton can be reached at (970) 668-4628, or at hhamilton@summitdaily.com