RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS IN RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges faced by rural public-school districts in maintaining sufficient school transportation staffing. In particular, the study explores the existing practices and perceptions of transportation personnel and bus drivers in rural publicschool districts as they pertain to transportation staffing. A central goal of this study is to determine what, if any, strategies are used by districts to recruit and retain drivers in these districts and what factors influence drivers’ employment decisions. The study was conducted in three rural public-school districts located in northern Indiana. A qualitative research design was used, including interviews and focus groups comprising 25 participants. Three findings were obtained from the analysis. First, school districts generally do not use formal recruitment strategies to attract bus drivers. Second, school districts engage in supervisory practices that they believe create favorable conditions to increase bus driver retention. Third, policy factors, particularly related to bus driver licensing, significantly impact these districts’ ability to on board new bus drivers. It was found that school districts should target their recruitment efforts to a specific population likely to enter their profession, rather than putting efforts into broad-based recruitment. Moreover, it is incumbent upon administrators to maintain positively perceived working conditions to retain existing drivers and be viewed favorably by potential drivers in the community. Existing regulatory policies prevent individuals from seeking and obtaining licensure to become bus drivers and require review to increase the labor market of potential drivers.