Schools look for busing solutions
Schools look for busing solutions
By Jerry W. Kram
Competition is often touted as a good thing, but often small businesses and essential services suffer when private businesses can offer double or triple the salary. In an area like the oil patch, where demand for workers has overwhelmed the market and salaries have skyrocketed, it has been difficult to keep even long term employees satisfied.
One area where this is abundantly clear is in area schools looking for bus drivers. One of the job prerequisites is having a Commercial Drivers License (CDL). With companies needing to move water, oil, fracking sand, not to mention all the drilling equipment, a CDL has become something of a golden ticket in Mountrail County. Local school districts are finding it hard to compete with oil patch salaries.
“We have trouble, no doubt about it,” said Marc Bluestone, superintendent of the New Town School District. “We have our “old faithful” people, but we also have four or five teachers that drive bus for us regularly. It is frustrating to try and find people to do that when they can make way more money.”
