RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN ) — Bus drivers in Rutherford County hope to make headway during Thursday night’s school board meeting as they work to negotiate a nearly 35% raise.
Barbara Donnell with the Rutherford County Bus Contractors Organization said the request comes due to skyrocketing costs since they last negotiated their contract four years ago.
“We love what we do. You have to love children to do this job and you have to have lots of patience,” Donnell said. “Five years ago, I financed a bus at 3.4 [percent]. I just bought a new bus — it financed right at 8 [percent], so all of our costs are increasing: drivers, fuel. Fuel is about $1,000 a month.”
Donnell helps represent roughly 120 of the contracted bus drivers in the county. However, their 34.8% raise request is far from what was discussed at the RCS Board of Education work session Tuesday.
“If you were to just put me on the spot and say, 'Dr. Sullivan, where do we go?' I would say somewhere between 10 and 15 [percent] closer to probably 12.5 would be where I feel comfortable from a budget perspective,” RCS director Jimmy Sullivan said during the session.
There's also debate over liability insurance. Since their last contract, Tennessee now has a new law saying drivers should be the ones to carry it for the students. However, drivers are hopeful new legislation will overturn that. In the meantime, the district is looking to offer a $4,000 stipend to offset the cost.
"We represent 70% of Rutherford County's contractors and none of them are willing to put everything on the line to insure those kids and risk losing everything that we've worked for," Donnell added.
Drivers have also been asking parents to call their school board members and county commissioners to support them.
“We're contracted to drive through the end of the school year and then after that, if they don't get serious, then we won't sign another contract,” Donnell said.
