A nearly decade-old plan to create “hybrid positions” to address a chronic shortage of school bus drivers for the Alamance-Burlington school system appears to have resulted in some bus drivers getting paid twice, and at a higher rate than they would’ve normally earned as a bus driver for part of the time spent behind the wheel.
Neither the amount of overpayments nor how long the practice had gone on could be determined, according to ABSS chief finance officer Tony Messer.
School officials told The Alamance News that they believe the overpayment of some bus drivers may date back to around 2017.
The overpayments went to ABSS employees who have dual employment as teaching assistants, custodians, and in other “classified” positions, which don’t require state certification, and also drive a bus before and after school.
During their latest work session Tuesday afternoon, school board members heard the ABSS administration’s plan to prevent future overpayments.
The overpayments were discovered during an evaluation of ABSS finances that began soon after Messer took over as the CFO in late October 2024. “[Messer] reviewed bus drivers and dual-role employees and found the payroll issues,” ABSS chief communications officer Emily-Lynn Adkins explained Wednesday.
Pressed for additional information by The Alamance News, Messer described the overpayment as “a complex situation with multiple layers dating back several years. The Finance Office does not have the capacity to work on this. However, there have been discussions of an independent third party to complete the work if the [school board] desires.”
After taking over as the CFO in late October 2024, Messer told the school board Tuesday, “I was seeing some things I wasn’t accustomed to from my past experience.” Bus drivers are typically paid at an hourly rate, he said, adding, “That’s where this issue comes in.”
ABSS currently has approximately 30 employees in “split positions” who would be affected by the change in how school bus drivers are paid, based on the figure that Messer cited for the newspaper prior to the school board’s work session. New employees hired for classified positions also would be affected by the change.
Previously, the school system’s 10-month classified employees who performed more than one job were prepaid for their “main job duties.” They were expected to clock out after completing the work day for their primary position and clock back in to drive a bus, but apparently had not, based on Messer’s review.
In other words, some of those employees hit overtime while being clocked in for their main job – but were actually driving a bus, based on Messer’s description during the work session.
Messer estimated for the school board that the starting pay for school bus drivers is approximately $17.50 per hour.
“[The] transportation [department] has been footing the bill for the overtime pay rate,” Messer told the board. Starting immediately, overtime will not start until 40 hours have been worked, either in the primary job or the secondary role driving a bus, he said.
“Basically, what we’re doing here,” said school board vice chairman Dan Ingle, “is complying with state law.”
School board member Chuck Marsh responded, “I could see a problem with bus drivers saying, ‘I don’t see the point in doing this job anymore.’ I do want to see how much the average employee is going to take a hit on…Starting pay at Chick-fil-A is around $17 an hour, and they don’t have to have a [Commercial Driver’s License].”
ABSS also plans to implement a new policy, which Messer said is similar to policies used in nearby school systems and would require all new 10-month “school-based” classified employees to obtain a license to drive a school bus.
ABSS has 32 vacant school bus driver positions, and about 30 current bus drivers are running multiple routes in order to compensate for the shortage of drivers, school officials told the newspaper Tuesday.
Approximately 120 classified employees assist with driving buses
ABSS currently has approximately 120 classified employees (those whose positions don’t require state certification) who typically spend part of their work day performing two jobs, one of which often entails driving a school bus when needed, Anderson told the board. Nine are employed in split positions as cafeteria workers/bus drivers or as custodians/bus drivers. The other 111 people are employed as regular bus drivers, teacher assistants, data managers, and in similar roles, based on data she provided for the discussion.
Not all of those 120 employees appeared to have been paid at the higher rates for their primary jobs while driving a bus.
“This is one of those things we have to do to be compliant with state law,” ABSS superintendent Dr. Aaron Fleming told the board, adding that that the change will take effect with the payroll period that ends later this month.
“The financial impact [will be to those] being paid above and beyond what they should have been,” the superintendent said. “Mr. Messer and I have a duty to fix this problem.”
“When we discovered this, we had to fix it,” Fleming told the board. “Now we can move forward with how we pay, how we recruit bus drivers.”
“I have a problem with this because I get texts every single day,” Marsh responded, “and we’ve got kids getting off the bus at 6:00 [at night]. We don’t have enough bus drivers, and [now] we’re messing with their money.”
School board chairman Sandy Ellington-Graves underscored the superintendent’s point, telling her board colleagues, “We are correcting that they have been getting paid more than they should have been.” She also acknowledged that she and other board members consistently hear concerns about bus driver pay and driver shortages.
“The first thing is, we need to make sure we are compliant with state law,” the CFO added. “One is to fix how we’re paying them, and the next is to possibly change the bus driver pay scale to mitigate the concerns you may have as a board.” Messer told the board that it would be “a lengthy process” to determine who had been overpaid, by how much, and for how long.
Past effort to fill bus driver vacancies
“Wasn’t there some conversation, maybe 2016, 2017, [where the] board did something to incentivize [employees] to drive a bus?” Ellington-Graves asked.
School board attorney Adam Mitchell said he’d research that.
Around late 2016, during the first tenure of former ABSS superintendent Dr. Bill Harrison, ABSS had created “hybrid positions,” which required newly-hired cafeteria workers, custodians, and other classified employees to also drive a bus.
School board members had worried at the time that those hybrid positions would hamper ABSS in hiring teacher assistants, custodians, and other employees whose pay often falls near the bottom of the state’s pay scales for school employees. Many bus drivers and other classified employees such as custodians don’t work the minimum number of hours per week needed to qualify for state retirement, health insurance, and other benefits.
The vision for the hybrid positions, as described at the time by then-assistant superintendent Dr. Todd Thorpe, was that newly-hired classified employees would work enough hours per week between two positions to boost their bottom line and also receive benefits.
Asked whether the proposed policy that would require newly-hired teacher’s assistants and other classified employees to obtain a school bus driver’s license might also hamper future hiring efforts, Fleming told The Alamance News that he doesn’t think so.
“We don’t anticipate it being significantly more difficult than the current staffing situation we find ourselves in now,” Fleming said. “This will provide an opportunity for additional income for the employee while helping fill a critical need in the school district.”
ABSS officials told the newspaper Wednesday that the ABSS administration hopes to cover the costs for school bus driver training and licensure for 10-month “school-based” classified employees hired under the new policy.
The state Department of Motor Vehicles requires prospective school bus drivers to:
- Complete a school bus driver training class (in-person or virtual);
- Pass up to four different commercial driver’s license (CDL) exams;
- Complete behind-the-wheel training with a driver education program specialist;
- Pass mandatory and random drug testing.
DMV charges $51.50 to apply for a CDL to drive a school bus; $25.50 per year to obtain and maintain a school bus CDL; and $5.00 per year per “endorsement” for the school bus CDL, according to the agency.
Fleming had notified affected employees of the change in an email and plans to meet with them to answer any questions they may have, Adkins said Wednesday.
