With a number of today’s baby boomers retiring within the next five to 10 years, there is concern among companies that the retirements will create a gap in leadership because they will be losing the bulk of their long-term employees, as well as the industry-based experience that these individuals possess.
Ralph Knight, transportation director for the Napa Valley (Calif.) Unified School District, also believes the gap will occur, and he offers an explanation for it. “We’re not seeing younger guys follow in the footsteps of the retirees,” he says. “I don’t think people today have much of a desire to work in the industry.” Interestingly, groups of people have retired from the industry in the past. Joe Precourt, transportation director for the Vancouver (Wash.) School District, says that in the 1980s, numerous transportation directors retired around the same time. The difference between that wave of retirees and today’s wave, however, is that not only are there fewer individuals interested in working in pupil transportation, there are fewer people who have the skills necessary to meet the positions’ requirements. Connors explains that the transportation director position, for instance, is a focused, specialized job and that being a college graduate is sometimes not enough to qualify for it — one must also possess certain characteristics. Given Knight’s and Connors’ insights, it is not surprising that Chris Darling, director of operations for Fort Dodge (Iowa) Community School District, says the industry has historically had problems filling managerial positions for the long term. Why the lack of interest?
Why are individuals uninterested in accepting positions in this industry or, if they accept the positions, why do they fail to stay in them for the long term? One reason is the (sometimes) low salaries paid to employees. “We’re an industry that’s lagging behind in competitive pricing,” says Ronald Scarborough, transportation director for the Yuma (Ariz.) Educational Consortium. “Most transportation directors I know could go into another industry and make more money, but they stay because they like their jobs. Money isn’t always a big issue, but it’s important to be competitive with other industries.” Another factor is the amount of time one must devote to the job — one often has to go above and beyond the call of duty, which is something that not everyone is willing to do. “You work long hours,” says Darling. “People who come into this thinking they’ll have a glamorous, executive position are in for a rude awakening.” John Kiser, transportation director for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Ky., expresses a similar sentiment. He says working 12-hour days is common. As such, he also feels having endurance is crucial. “In 15 years, I’ve probably only taken three full days off because there’s no good time to take a vacation. So I work half days during summer,” he says. Drop-offs are expected
People who invest this kind of time into their jobs are suited for this line of work. That level of dedication is, however, a double-edged sword. It demonstrates an enthusiastic attitude, but it also makes it easy to imagine that school districts and contractors could experience a drop-off in productivity and efficiency once these individuals retire, especially considering that many have 20-plus years of industry knowledge. “Because of my understanding of the nuances of our operation and the districts we serve, I don’t think I could be easily replaced,” says Daryl Jefferson, branch manager for Laidlaw Education Services in Lake Oswego, Ore. Jefferson also feels that unless Laidlaw hired someone with management experience, or a substantial amount of industry knowledge, his branch would experience a drop-off if he retired. Similarly, Precourt does not have assistant managers with which he can share his workload and, for this reason, he believes that his district might experience a drop-off in productivity for a period of time if he retired. The search for new employees
To remedy this, industry officials must look for fitting candidates to replace retirees. Scarborough says they should seek out people who can manage budgets. Kiser feels candidates should be computer literate because a number of districts are utilizing GPS and routing software. He also says that they should have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to control their emotions because they will be working with children and parents. Moreover, Darling says, “You have to have thick skin — a lot of people will think they know how to do this job better than you.” He says it is also important to be diligent and stay abreast of newly implemented rules and regulations. When looking outside the industry, Precourt says employers often seek individuals who have public facilities experience. When searching within the industry, he says they look for someone with administrative experience — perhaps a former safety director or a retired school principal. An industry-wide effort?
But are officials doing enough to fill open positions? Precourt believes transportation directors are doing their part by grooming individuals in-house to fill the positions once they become available. Darling also feels that districts expend substantial energy looking for potential candidates. “I don’t think any superintendent underestimates what a danger it is to put the wrong type of person in this position,” he says. “If district officials know that they need to replace their transportation director, they’re looking diligently.” {+PAGEBREAK+} In contrast, Scarborough suggests that more emphasis is placed on looking for people for other areas of education administration. He refers to pupil transportation as the redheaded stepchild of education, saying that some people don’t think about it until a problem occurs. “I don’t think we’re always recruiting the best help,” he explains. “I’m not denigrating today’s transportation directors, I’m just saying that there are people out there who would be well-suited for this job, but they go into other fields.” Connors says many transportation directors actively search for a replacement when they plan to retire and, in fact, Connors secured his position at Brevard Public Schools through this type of planning. “The former transportation director was retiring and he recruited me from another county within Florida,” he reveals. On the other hand, Connors believes that unless there is a program set up that facilitates it, some of today’s transportation directors are not working in-house enough to prepare people to take on these roles years in advance of someone’s retirement. Ways to alleviate the gap
Long-term in-house grooming could, therefore, decrease the likelihood of a leadership gap, or reduce its severity if it develops. Creating a succession plan is another strategy. Although Kiser does not have a formal succession plan in place, he is not worried about a leadership gap — his district’s transportation department has a 106-page manual that covers all aspects of the operation, which would facilitate an easy transition for a new transportation director. The district also has a manager at each of its two terminals that could replace Kiser once he retires. Moreover, information is given openly so that all employees know what is happening. “We share information so that people will be qualified applicants for managerial positions, and so that those people will feel comfortable applying for the positions,” Kiser says. At Fort Dodge Community School District, Darling says that its school bus driver association handbook provides information on how to handle employee matters, and that it could be helpful to an incoming transportation director. The district has also obtained a copy of Area Education Agency 267’s current school bus driver handbook, and Darling says it could be helpful as well. It covers numerous subjects, including laws, rules, student management and bus safety. Furthermore, a site manager helps Darling with his duties — he says that this assistance and acquiring knowledge via the two handbooks could help prevent a leadership gap from forming at his district. Additional help has enabled Knight to implement a succession plan at Napa Valley Unified. “I’m going to move in a different direction within the industry soon, and we’ve been planning for it for the last five years,” he says. An operations supervisor who has worked with Knight for three years will step into his position when he leaves. Precourt does not have a succession plan in place at the Vancouver School District. However, he says that identifying prospective candidates from a neighboring district or a state organization would enable districts to fill managerial positions more quickly when employees retire. He also suggests that districts without one should consider hiring an assistant transportation director or an administrative manager. “It would ease the transition because the assistant director or administrative manager could pick up where the retiree left off,” Precourt says. At Laidlaw, when branch managers are given their performance reviews, they are asked to identify people who could advance into management positions in the event of an employee’s retirement. Jefferson feels this is an effective system and that it could alleviate the leadership gap. Connors believes, like Precourt, that districts should create an assistant director position to fill the leadership gap. “Unfortunately, the size of many school districts’ budgets would prevent them from being able to create that role,” he says. Therefore, another option would be to provide training for incoming transportation directors to ease their transition. “The National Association for Pupil Transportation has an excellent transportation director certification program,” Connors says. The Florida Association for Pupil Transportation (FAPT) also offers training and support for new transportation directors. “People thrown into this position can feel like they’re on an island with sharks around it. The FAPT provides new directors with a network of people to contact if they need help,” Connors says. One of Scarborough’s goals is to create a succession plan for the Yuma Educational Consortium; to establish prospective successors, he plans to offer in-house training for his employees. What motivates Scarborough and the others to fight the leadership gap? Commitment. “This is a great line of work,” he says. “We may complain about it from time to time, but if you offered us something else, we wouldn’t take it.”
To assuage this concern, industry officials must find well-qualified people to replace retirees, but given the specialized nature of certain jobs, this search can be difficult; nowhere is the aforementioned concern more prevalent and the search more difficult than in pupil transportation.
“The gap is basically occurring now,” says Mike Connors, the director of Brevard Public Schools’ transportation services department in Cocoa, Fla. “In four to five years I’ll probably be retiring, and there’s really no one out there who meets the qualifications for this position.”
Contributing factors
Ralph Knight, transportation director for the Napa Valley (Calif.) Unified School District, also believes the gap will occur, and he offers an explanation for it. “We’re not seeing younger guys follow in the footsteps of the retirees,” he says. “I don’t think people today have much of a desire to work in the industry.” Interestingly, groups of people have retired from the industry in the past. Joe Precourt, transportation director for the Vancouver (Wash.) School District, says that in the 1980s, numerous transportation directors retired around the same time. The difference between that wave of retirees and today’s wave, however, is that not only are there fewer individuals interested in working in pupil transportation, there are fewer people who have the skills necessary to meet the positions’ requirements. Connors explains that the transportation director position, for instance, is a focused, specialized job and that being a college graduate is sometimes not enough to qualify for it — one must also possess certain characteristics. Given Knight’s and Connors’ insights, it is not surprising that Chris Darling, director of operations for Fort Dodge (Iowa) Community School District, says the industry has historically had problems filling managerial positions for the long term. Why the lack of interest?
Why are individuals uninterested in accepting positions in this industry or, if they accept the positions, why do they fail to stay in them for the long term? One reason is the (sometimes) low salaries paid to employees. “We’re an industry that’s lagging behind in competitive pricing,” says Ronald Scarborough, transportation director for the Yuma (Ariz.) Educational Consortium. “Most transportation directors I know could go into another industry and make more money, but they stay because they like their jobs. Money isn’t always a big issue, but it’s important to be competitive with other industries.” Another factor is the amount of time one must devote to the job — one often has to go above and beyond the call of duty, which is something that not everyone is willing to do. “You work long hours,” says Darling. “People who come into this thinking they’ll have a glamorous, executive position are in for a rude awakening.” John Kiser, transportation director for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Ky., expresses a similar sentiment. He says working 12-hour days is common. As such, he also feels having endurance is crucial. “In 15 years, I’ve probably only taken three full days off because there’s no good time to take a vacation. So I work half days during summer,” he says. Drop-offs are expected
People who invest this kind of time into their jobs are suited for this line of work. That level of dedication is, however, a double-edged sword. It demonstrates an enthusiastic attitude, but it also makes it easy to imagine that school districts and contractors could experience a drop-off in productivity and efficiency once these individuals retire, especially considering that many have 20-plus years of industry knowledge. “Because of my understanding of the nuances of our operation and the districts we serve, I don’t think I could be easily replaced,” says Daryl Jefferson, branch manager for Laidlaw Education Services in Lake Oswego, Ore. Jefferson also feels that unless Laidlaw hired someone with management experience, or a substantial amount of industry knowledge, his branch would experience a drop-off if he retired. Similarly, Precourt does not have assistant managers with which he can share his workload and, for this reason, he believes that his district might experience a drop-off in productivity for a period of time if he retired. The search for new employees
To remedy this, industry officials must look for fitting candidates to replace retirees. Scarborough says they should seek out people who can manage budgets. Kiser feels candidates should be computer literate because a number of districts are utilizing GPS and routing software. He also says that they should have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to control their emotions because they will be working with children and parents. Moreover, Darling says, “You have to have thick skin — a lot of people will think they know how to do this job better than you.” He says it is also important to be diligent and stay abreast of newly implemented rules and regulations. When looking outside the industry, Precourt says employers often seek individuals who have public facilities experience. When searching within the industry, he says they look for someone with administrative experience — perhaps a former safety director or a retired school principal. An industry-wide effort?
But are officials doing enough to fill open positions? Precourt believes transportation directors are doing their part by grooming individuals in-house to fill the positions once they become available. Darling also feels that districts expend substantial energy looking for potential candidates. “I don’t think any superintendent underestimates what a danger it is to put the wrong type of person in this position,” he says. “If district officials know that they need to replace their transportation director, they’re looking diligently.” {+PAGEBREAK+} In contrast, Scarborough suggests that more emphasis is placed on looking for people for other areas of education administration. He refers to pupil transportation as the redheaded stepchild of education, saying that some people don’t think about it until a problem occurs. “I don’t think we’re always recruiting the best help,” he explains. “I’m not denigrating today’s transportation directors, I’m just saying that there are people out there who would be well-suited for this job, but they go into other fields.” Connors says many transportation directors actively search for a replacement when they plan to retire and, in fact, Connors secured his position at Brevard Public Schools through this type of planning. “The former transportation director was retiring and he recruited me from another county within Florida,” he reveals. On the other hand, Connors believes that unless there is a program set up that facilitates it, some of today’s transportation directors are not working in-house enough to prepare people to take on these roles years in advance of someone’s retirement. Ways to alleviate the gap
Long-term in-house grooming could, therefore, decrease the likelihood of a leadership gap, or reduce its severity if it develops. Creating a succession plan is another strategy. Although Kiser does not have a formal succession plan in place, he is not worried about a leadership gap — his district’s transportation department has a 106-page manual that covers all aspects of the operation, which would facilitate an easy transition for a new transportation director. The district also has a manager at each of its two terminals that could replace Kiser once he retires. Moreover, information is given openly so that all employees know what is happening. “We share information so that people will be qualified applicants for managerial positions, and so that those people will feel comfortable applying for the positions,” Kiser says. At Fort Dodge Community School District, Darling says that its school bus driver association handbook provides information on how to handle employee matters, and that it could be helpful to an incoming transportation director. The district has also obtained a copy of Area Education Agency 267’s current school bus driver handbook, and Darling says it could be helpful as well. It covers numerous subjects, including laws, rules, student management and bus safety. Furthermore, a site manager helps Darling with his duties — he says that this assistance and acquiring knowledge via the two handbooks could help prevent a leadership gap from forming at his district. Additional help has enabled Knight to implement a succession plan at Napa Valley Unified. “I’m going to move in a different direction within the industry soon, and we’ve been planning for it for the last five years,” he says. An operations supervisor who has worked with Knight for three years will step into his position when he leaves. Precourt does not have a succession plan in place at the Vancouver School District. However, he says that identifying prospective candidates from a neighboring district or a state organization would enable districts to fill managerial positions more quickly when employees retire. He also suggests that districts without one should consider hiring an assistant transportation director or an administrative manager. “It would ease the transition because the assistant director or administrative manager could pick up where the retiree left off,” Precourt says. At Laidlaw, when branch managers are given their performance reviews, they are asked to identify people who could advance into management positions in the event of an employee’s retirement. Jefferson feels this is an effective system and that it could alleviate the leadership gap. Connors believes, like Precourt, that districts should create an assistant director position to fill the leadership gap. “Unfortunately, the size of many school districts’ budgets would prevent them from being able to create that role,” he says. Therefore, another option would be to provide training for incoming transportation directors to ease their transition. “The National Association for Pupil Transportation has an excellent transportation director certification program,” Connors says. The Florida Association for Pupil Transportation (FAPT) also offers training and support for new transportation directors. “People thrown into this position can feel like they’re on an island with sharks around it. The FAPT provides new directors with a network of people to contact if they need help,” Connors says. One of Scarborough’s goals is to create a succession plan for the Yuma Educational Consortium; to establish prospective successors, he plans to offer in-house training for his employees. What motivates Scarborough and the others to fight the leadership gap? Commitment. “This is a great line of work,” he says. “We may complain about it from time to time, but if you offered us something else, we wouldn’t take it.”
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