Calvert School Bus Contractors Seal New Contract With A 1% Yearly Raise

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) approved the new, updated contract for contracted school bus drivers, which includes annual raises over the next three years.

The discussion on school bus contractors did not originally appear on the July 9 Board of Education (BOE) agenda. Director of Transportation Kevin Hook requested to add the presentation to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting to secure the contract for the bus drivers.

Amid conversations over budget cuts to transportation earlier this year, representatives for the contracted drivers expressed their desire to protect their pay and hours. Dale Shaner, a CCPS bus driver, spoke at the Feb. 12 meeting and shared how removing guaranteed hours would negatively impact contracted bus drivers and their ability to keep working in the school system.

Hook said the contract guarantees eight daily working hours for the drivers and a flat annual pay raise, which is “close to a 1% raise every year.”

Additionally, the bus drivers have requested that they receive a per-vehicle allotment, or PVA, paid over six years to help them with the loans on the buses. Additionally, CCPS increased the maintenance rate for drivers, which was previously one of the lowest in the state. The new contract puts CCPS back on the same level as St. Mary’s and Charles county schools.

BOE President Jana Smith-Post thanked Hook and the staff who spent time researching and putting together the contract.

“It’s a large portion of the school system’s budget, and I appreciate the level of effort that school staff has put in to get it to this point,” Smith-Post said.

The BOE approved the contract, 5-0.

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