Keokuk Community School District sees school bus driver shortage

KEOKUK (WGEM) - Keokuk Community School District is facing another school bus driver shortage as the new school year kicks off.

Topics regarding working hours, wages, and benefit packages are what’s leading to these shortages.

There are so few bus drivers, that people working within the administration have step in to help transport children to and from school.

Dave Grogan, Director of Transportation and Grounds for Keokuk Community School District, said that he drives a school bus in addition to working in administration. “Being the Transportation and Grounds Director, it takes four hours of my day away from other administrative duties,” Grogan said.

Amid the bus driver shortages, the school district has invested in buses with partial seat belt arrangements and with air conditioning, but applicants have come few and far between.

While the school district is suffering bus driver shortages, Grogan mentioned there is a demographic that seems to keep the school transportation program running.

“A lot of the people that take a job like school bus driving are retired people, or people that just want an additional income,” Grogan said.

To find out more on how to apply for Keokuk Community School District bus driver positions, click here.

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