Megan Navarro
KYLE — The Hays CISD Transportation Department has found another space to interview prospective bus drivers: a retrofitted school bus.
Director Cassandra Behr developed the idea from the already-established “Ride and Drive” events that the department does as a weekend job fair to recruit drivers, knowing that it can be intimidating to step into a job that involves a 40-foot vehicle. This allows them to practice turning, slowing down, using red lights, etc. to see what it’s like to drive a bus, while also being in the confines of a parking lot.
Through doing these events, Behr shared that they also tried doing on-the-spot, mobile interviews at locations, like in the parking lot at Hays High School near Bob Shelton Stadium, where they don’t necessarily have access to the building.
“We were like, ‘Hey, you know what? What if we were able to take a bus that we're getting ready to auction off and change it into kind of like a mobile office?’ There are other districts that have them for mobile libraries [and] mobile food items,” she said. “But, what if we were able to change this into something where we could sit down with individuals and have that interview with them? Then, they have a place to do an application because we found our laptops were dying because they're sitting out in the heat and the sun's bearing down on them for several hours.”
It took two years for the department to retrofit the school bus — which was already identified to go to auction — from breaking down the seats, taking the metal to a local business to get some funds back and sourcing materials. The total cost, Behr said, was approximately $2,000 for the items on the inside of the bus, as the majority of them were donated or found on sale.
“I have an amazing shop team out there, so they kind of worked it in a little bit here and a little bit there, which is why it took us two years to do the retrofit because we didn't want to impact our normal daily operations,” she said. “From our upholstery tech who redid the seats that we have in there, because those are bus seats from other buses that we were able to utilize, to the mechanics that worked on taking all the seats out and then, redoing the floor in there to getting it all installed. [Also], the mechanic who did all of the welding for the generator on the front, so that we could run it without having bus fumes in that using that diesel because a generator is better able to run any electricity on the inside versus the bus actually running because that can actually hurt the engine because it's not moving.”
School districts nationwide have been seeing a shortage in bus drivers, Behr said, which is another reason why Hays CISD is looking at alternative ways to recruit individuals to join the team.
There are several barriers that come with looking for individuals to drive a bus, from managing 50-70 students, being responsible for the routes to and from school and understanding the split shift schedule, she continued.
“We have individuals who joined us because their own kids were riding the bus and they wanted to make sure that they were safely getting to and from school, but then we have some people who don't have students, they just want to be able to give back to the community,” the Transportation director said.
Currently, Hays CISD is fully staffed with enough bus drivers to start the school year for the nearly 100 routes that are on the map. However, Behr said that they are still looking to hire drivers because they have have seen an increase in enrollment already this year and “we are already in the plans of what routes we're going to need to add in and so, we want to make sure that we are ready to fill those positions as those bus routes get added on.”
The interview bus started as one idea and it has continued to grow, Behr noted. The director shared that they are looking at utilizing it beyond just interviews, rather for the following, as well: parent events — helping them sign up for Secured Mobility Authorized Ridership Technology tag or answer questions about bus routes; helping students get registered; and other ways to benefit the community.
Following the first week of school, the Hays CISD Transportation Department plans to begin rolling out the bus on the weekends and get out in the community, with the possibility of partnering with local businesses to do so.
Those who have questions about the bus or the department, email [email protected].
