In Durham, North Carolina, school bus driver candidates pay out of pocket for a physical, training, testing, and licensing before they start the job — expenses that add up to nearly $400.

But now, a local non-profit has stepped in to alleviate the financial burden and help continue to alleviate the school bus driver shortage. Durham Public Schools Foundation is raising money to cover these costs and recruit more drivers.

So far, the DPS Bus Driver Certification Fund — which is donation based — has raised just over $12,000. Its goal is to fund 50 drivers' expenses and reach $19,000.

“It has been a stopgap for parents to take their kids off of bus service so that students that need access to bus service most immediately can get access to bus service as quickly as possible,” said Durham School Board Chair Millicent Rogers in a CBS17 report. “But it’s not something that’s a long-term solution.”

“Great people in our community wanted to step into these roles but really couldn’t afford the upfront cost to even apply,” DPS Foundation Executive Director Erika Wilkins said in the same story. “And we know that our kids can’t learn if they can’t get to school.”

In an area deeply affected by the driver shortage, earlier in the school year the district moved to a rotational service model and removed school bus eligibility for some students who lived within 1.5 miles of the school.

In a private social media group for school bus drivers where this story was shared, many commented that their district pays for these same expenses. One driver wrote, "You can’t expect unemployed folks or people leaving other districts/companies to pay these expenses out of pocket when the employer traditionally pays for them. This has only exacerbated their recruitment efforts."

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