BY Isaiah Frizzell
Sometimes, when you see an urgent, intractable problem, you get up, strap your boots on, and do something unexpected. This fall, when the Blaine County School District faced an ongoing shortage of school bus drivers, Dan Turner did just that. Turner, a current Trustee for the Blaine County School District, with an extensive background in finance, never imagined that he would be safely shuttlng students to and from school. What made him put on this new hat, step out of his comfort zone, and help the kids?
The answer is simple: need.
There’s a particular line of thought, often a question, that’s intriguing each time it’s asked that is applicable here.
What made you decide to jump into driving a school bus?
The answer, as it often is, was: ‘Well, I saw a need and I wanted to make a difference.”
“I really got involved because, at the board level, we were getting letters from parents and teachers talking about field trips the kids and teachers were really looking forward to that they had to cancel because there was no bus driver,” Turner said. “A lot of these schools have traditional trips where they’ll go to Idaho BaseCamp, or the kids at Carey will go to Yellowstone, then someone tells you we don’t have any buses and that deflates everyone.”
At 66, Turner finished a four-week driver training course and earned his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), and drove his first solo day on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. It was a success and, to Turner, something of a joy.
A Big and Small-Picture Issue
Though the shortage of school bus drivers stretches throughout the country, and was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the issues facing Blaine County are local.
Turned explained, “We live in a state that doesn’t devote a lot of resources to public education. It’s tough to compete. Other drivers with Commercial Driver’s Licenses, like those with a UPS contract, are making like $60 an hour. Guys down in Texas are driving waste management trucks making $100,000 a year. Being a little school district in Blaine County, we can’t compete with those kinds of wages.”
One of the nation’s largest school bus fleets was shuttered in 2002 after nearly 100 years in business. This, in addition to many other fleets falling apart during the pandemic, should have created a pool of truck drivers eager to find employment.
But, it is a challenge to attract competent, experienced drivers who could make much more money elsewhere. Turned explained, “To find a bus driver, you almost have to find someone who’s not strictly looking at it on an economic basis, despite the flexible hours.”
Compounding the issue is the somewhat archaic way Idaho pays school bus drivers. “Transportation finances are really one of the most opaque reimbursement models I’ve ever seen,” Turned explained. Reimbursement models are based on manty factors, like vehicle size: long versus short buses. This further works against small school districts like Blaine County.
Turned added, “It’s just a lot of counterintuitive things that go into this model, especially, you know, the geography we have, the logistics we’re dealing with, where students live and where we need to move them to. We’re driving a lot of miles to pick up these kids. From the flashing light at Timmerman Hill to Picabo, the Bellevue Triangle, Warm Spring to East Fork, we cover a lot of miles.”
A Team Effort
Mountain Rides also pitched in in a meaningful way to help students get safely to and from school. According to Turner, “They do move a lot of kids up the valley. They don’t go up the canyons, but they’ve been good about coordinating schedules to accommodate the students. But again, we’ve got a lot of this kooky geography … ”
Turner enjoys being part of the team and said the work takes a strong, joyful, positive attitude. “It kind of seems to be in the Sun Valley community’s DNA to pull together when something like this happens. Just this summer, the school put on this summer school program [BCSD’s SummerBridge Academic Program] that targeted the kids that needed the help and, gosh, the amount of academic progress these kids made was remarkable.”
He added, “That was just all these groups in our community saying we need to do something and they came together. I’ve never really lived in a community like this. It’s really a special place.”
How to Help
Blaine County School District still faces a shortage of bus drivers and welcomes those interested in the job, or other jobs needing staffing, including crossing guards. If you are interested in learning more, contact Blaine County Transportation Chief Colton Metzler at (208) 578-5425 or CMetzler@blaineschools.org.