It’s getting tough for the wheels on the bus to go round and round. We're entering another school year where school districts are struggling to find bus drivers to get kids to and from classes. News 5 is following through on the issue by checking in with two bus drivers we spoke with last school year. One was a veteran driver who found viral fame. The other was a teacher filling in behind the wheel because of a shortage.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Life After Viral Fame
Ever since Jackie Miller went viral, the foul-mouthed video of her on a school bus has been seen everywhere. It was March 29 when the then-Amherst school bus driver told News 5 she reached her limit. Students on her bus were being rude and disrespectful. She said her outburst that day had been a long time coming.
“I regret the language, OK,” she told News 5 Anchor Rob Powers when he caught back up with her last month. “I could have been a little more diplomatic with the language, but not the content.” Miller admits she should have been the adult in that situation. Her language, she said, was over the top. But still, she stood by the message.
“I’ll never take that back,” she told Powers. “Ever.” Miller quit her job after that incident. As the video started spreading, she learned a lot of people were on her side. T-shirts were made, and a Go Fund Me account racked up more than $125,000.
“I can’t go anywhere, honestly,” Miller said. “My husband threatens to get me a ball cap and sunglasses.”
This summer, Miller was a guest at the 30th annual STN Expo in Reno, Nevada, presented by School Transportation News. Miller joined a panel discussion about driver shortages, retention, and safety. In Reno, she said school bus drivers are desperate for a spokesperson, a face, a voice to talk about what they deal with on those buses.
“I want to be instrumental in getting people’s eyes to open up and see,” she told Powers.
Doubling Down on Transportation
The nationwide shortage of school bus drivers prompted many districts to come up with unconventional ways to help fill the need. Last year, News 5 spoke with Kyle Andree at Riverside Local Schools, a 9th-grade English teacher who was one of a handful of educators in the district to pick up routes before and after class.
“I would just fill in here or there, but now we are so short-staffed that I'm driving every morning, and I have the same route every day,” he said at the time. Last month, Andree was hired as the district’s new transportation director.
“I didn't find so much joy and passion in teaching anymore but still have a really high dedication to the district,” he said. “I love working here.” When the job came up, Andree said it seemed like the perfect fit.
“There are so many places you can find joy in your work,” he said. “[I’m] trying to step into something new and try something different and excited for it.” Between teaching and transportation, both facets face ongoing shortages. Andree told News 5 he’d love to hire another eight drivers, down from 10 drivers that were needed at the same time last year.
“I think there is a little more flexibility in the transportation side of things,” he said. “I have buses that can fit [around] 77 elementary school kids on them, whereas I can’t do the same thing in the classroom.”
Riverside Local Schools’ first day is Aug. 24.
The Big Picture
The National Association of Pupil Transportation said there are jobs. In fact, every district in Ohio is hiring. But, the association’s Region 3 Director Melody Coniglio told Powers, those jobs aren’t easy to fill.
“Nobody’s knocking down our doors to come drive a school bus,” she said. It’s even tougher keeping them once they’re on the job. Miller’s former district, Amherst, had two full-time openings and one part-time when we checked.
“Friends of mine, they won’t come back next year,” Miller said. “They quit because they’re not putting up with the abuse any longer.”
Other reasons plaguing the industry include pay, benefits, the time it takes to train and test, and the split shift. Coniglio said she’s been working with a pilot program that would allow drivers to job-share the same routes. Amherst Exempted Village Schools told us driver contracts are being increased from four hours per day to five. Miller said the job is tough enough without dealing with abuse from the kids.
“Get your kids under control. That’s not our job. That doesn’t belong to us. That belongs to you,” she said. Miller said she didn’t go looking for this notoriety, calling herself just a Granny. She said she loved her job and loved being around most of the kids. If none of this had happened, she’d be back on her bus this fall.
“In a heartbeat,” she said. “I miss it.”
