EBR School Board approves stipend for bus drivers to help with shortage

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board meeting held Thursday evening went anything but smooth with many bus drivers, school employees, and parents expressing frustration over the problem.

Parents complained their kids would be left at their bus stops for hours with no bus in sight, and drivers complained about lousy pay and inhumane bus conditions while the state is currently under and emergency order for excessive heat.

Drivers in EBR have a starting pay of $19,000 while neighboring parishes are around $30,000. The solution the board came up with was a $12,500 stipend to be made in 2 separate payments, one in October and the other in March.

The starting salary is $19,000.

Many bus drivers, school employees, and parents are expressing frustration.

Those who spoke before the board called it a band-aid approach to a much bigger problem, threatening not to show up to work Friday morning if a permanent pay raise was not approved. Many left the meeting furious.

The district is short of roughly 150 drivers, and over 80 buses are out of commission.

The district is short of roughly 150 drivers, and over 80 buses are out of commission. The board is also exploring solutions to help with getting more busses out of the shop and back on the road.

The EBR Parish School Board meeting held Thursday evening went anything but smooth with many bus drivers, school employees, and parents expressing frustration.

The EBR Parish School Board meeting held Thursday evening went anything but smooth with many bus drivers, school employees, and parents expressing frustration.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved.