Like a lot of rural school districts in Texas, the North Lamar ISD is short on bus drivers. Six short, to be exact.
North Lamar’s Transportation Director, Clint Hildreth, says half a dozen of the districts routes have had to be realigned to make up for the shortfall in drivers. But the children would never actually know that.
“ Generally speaking our routes are about the same time,” Hildreth says. “We’ve have a couple of routes that we did have to extend a few minutes but we’re still in a good parameter for getting kids home when needed.”
Faculty and staff members with commercial licenses – including Hildreth – have pitched in to drive some routes.
Hildreth says the school board has freed up some extra money to entice potential drivers. That includes bonuses like safety incentives for drivers who build a record of getting kids home safe. In the meantime, he says, he considers the district blessed to have help from less conventional sources. And for not yet having a route that didn’t run.
