Yard Signs Help Iowa District Recruit School Bus Drivers

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Yard signs aren’t just for real estate agents and political candidates — a school district here is now using them to attract school bus driver applicants.

Terry Pape, garage supervisor for Dubuque Community Schools, got the yard sign idea from another school district at a two-day training seminar that he attended. The Dubuque district decided to give the concept a shot.

Tricia Pitz, the district’s web and print designer, came up with the design for the signs. Large black and yellow letters proclaim “SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS WANTED,” and the district’s phone number and careers web page are displayed next to a school bus icon.

Kris Hall, transportation manager for Dubuque Community Schools, said that the district ordered 100 of the signs from SignsOnTheCheap.com for a total cost of $394.53 (shipping was included as part of a promotion).

Dubuque runs about 70 route buses and was looking to recruit several route drivers as well as substitutes. The district pays its school bus drivers $18.12 per hour after a probationary period.

In August, Dubuque Community Schools began posting the yard signs on school grounds and elsewhere around town. According to Hall, they are having the intended effect.

“The signs are working,” Hall said. “We’re getting candidates.”