DeKalb school bus company proposes 19% budget increase to address driver retention, buses

DeKALB – DeKalb schools’ longtime school bus provider, First Student, is asking for a 19% increase in its district contract to address staff retention and new buses.

The DeKalb School District 428 board is expected to vote on the proposal during its regular meeting set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to documents released ahead of the meeting. The vote will decide whether to extended an existing contract with First Student for the upcoming two school years with the newly proposed rates. District administration recommends the school board approve the proposed contract extension.

First Student has been the school district’s school bus contractor for more than 20 years, documents state.

In a letter to district officials, First Student Area General Manager Ladel Cass wrote that costs have increased significantly for the transportation company during the pandemic, especially for employee compensation. Throughout the school year, bus driver shortages have plagued districts across Illinois.

[ Bus driver shortages hit home for DeKalb County schools, latest pandemic challenge ]

“Through this school year alone we have increased wages for drivers and monitors over 15% in effort to better retain and recruit,” Cass said. “In our proposed increase, we are adding additional wage growth for those groups of near 11%.”

Cass said in 2019, First Student’s hourly rate for new drivers was $15. It now sits at $18, he said, and the proposed increase, if approved, would bring it up to $20. Bus attendants with the company started at $11.50 per hour, Cass said, and as of Jan. 1 start at $14.

“We have increased our full-time staff wages by almost 10% as well,” he said.

Cass said that another cost impact has been bus replacement. In the past year, First Student replaced 15 buses in the school district, with another order not yet delivered.

He said greater turnover also means increased recruiting costs to incentive workers, including an increased new hire bonus from $1,500 to $5,000 per employee.

“A new bus always costs more than the replaced bus did when it was purchased 12 years ago, but we have seen close to a 20% increase in vehicle price during the pandemic alone,” Cass said. “And we have seen major increase to our overall liability costs. Like the general economy, almost everything has increased in cost for us.”

Every five years, the district goes through a bid proposal process to determine which bus vendor offers the most bang for its buck. The last time the district performed a big process was the 2018-19 school, according to documents. First Student was awarded the contract for three school years, from 2019 through 2022. Under the agreement, the contract can be extended for another two years.

According to the current contract, there was a 6% decrease in rates for 2019-20, a 2% increase in 2020-21, and a 2% increase in 2021-22.

First Student has proposed increases for the next two school years, with a 19% increase for standard routes and services in 2022-23 and a 3% increase for standard routes and services in 2023-24, documents state. Both school years will have a 0% increase for charters and field trips.

Over the five-year life of the contract with First Student, the average annual increase for standard routes and services is 4% and 1.2% for charters and field trips.

The contract does not include the cost of fuel, which the district buys directly, and in turn receives a sales tax exemption.