Faced With Shortage, Texas District May Allow Teachers to Drive School Buses

DALLAS — A school district here is looking into hiring teachers as one option to help contend with a bus driver shortage, since the school bus agency that served it is shutting down, NBC 5 reports.

As Dallas Independent School District plans to provide its own transportation service, it needs to hire more than 1,200 employees in six months, according to the news source. It has hired over 400 bus drivers with a commercial driver’s license, but still needs to hire 400 more to meet its goal. The district told NBC 5 that many people have applied and are being interviewed, but noted that there is also a bus driver shortage to deal with.

Scott Layne, the district’s deputy superintendent for operations, told the news source that teachers and others would be trained and certified, and that it would give them the opportunity to earn extra money. Athletic coaches have expressed interest in learning to drive a bus. The teacher’s union in Dallas and one school board trustee told NBC 5 that teachers have driven buses in the past.

As previously reported, the process of dissolving Dallas County Schools began in November when Dallas County voters chose to shut down the struggling agency. Dallas County Schools was in significant debt and was close to bankruptcy as a result of deals to buy stop-arm cameras. Additionally, the agency’s former superintendent pleaded guilty earlier this month to taking more than $3 million in bribes and kickbacks from the stop-arm camera supplier.