Bowling Green Independent School District approves pay raise for bus drivers

BOWLING GREEN Ky.-A local school district is seeking new team members this fall to provide transportation, and they are offering a pay raise.

Starting August 2021, the Bowling Green Independent School District will increase the hourly pay rate for bus drivers. Drivers with 10 plus years of experience will be paid $25 an hour for school day routes. Five to nine year drivers will get $22.50, and zero to four years of experience will net $20 an hour.

For top experienced drivers, this is around a 5-to-6-thousand-dollar annual increase from the previous pay rate. District superintendent Gary Fields proposed this increase to help recruit and retain the best drivers for the district.

District director of operations Cedric Browning says bus drivers are a very crucial part of the team, and he hopes to see a lot of applicants.

“Drivers, when you think about it in a literal sense, they are the front lines. They’re the first people to see the students every morning, and they’re the ones to see them home at the end of the day. If you want to work in an environment that’s rewarding and you get to be around kids every day, I think this is the place for you, and we’d love to have you,” Browning said.

Additional hours like bus routes for activities, field trips, or athletics will be paid a minimum of $16.23 an hour.