Published Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:58 AM
Updated Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:59 AM
County bus drivers face low pay
As they pass 22-year veteran bus driver Barbara Middleton, the kids give her a perfunctory and mumbled salutation. Taking their seats, the children are again engulfed in darkness as the bus takes off for another stop.
Surrounded by sleepy streets and sleepy kids, Middleton is wide awake and carrying her "precious cargo" to school.
Middleton, a petite, 55 year-old with manicured hair, has soft features complimentary to her talkative nature and her generous smile. Despite her stature and friendly disposition, she can quickly adjust into a stern authoritative figure for children who step outside her rules.
Middleton runs her bus like a powerful matriarch seated on a throne balanced on shock-absorbing springs. "They know Miss Barbara's rules," she smiled. But her strict rules are for safety -- to protect the children she loves so much. Every morning, Middleton hauls around 40 Goose Creek High students, 68 Sedgefield Intermediate students and 40 Sedgefield Middle students. The number of afternoon riders increases. Middleton began her driving career when her own three daughters were going to school. She wanted to ensure their safety to and from school. Now, her children have all graduated from Berkeley County schools. "Why did I continue?" she asked. "Because (the children) need a good bus driver." Each morning, Middleton wakes up at 5 a.m. When she arrives at the central bus location near Sedgefield Middle, she performs a pre-trip bus check. For the last several weeks, she has consistently reported an oil leak from her bus. Nothing has been done to fix it. Her bus isn't the only one, either. The oil leak bothers Middleton. But what really gets under her skin is the minute pay of a bus driver's salary. "The pay – to me – is not great for the responsibility," Middleton said. "Without the driver, the teacher, the principal, the administration – they wouldn't have a job, either." If bus drivers don't pick up extra routes from field trips and more, they usually make less than $20,000 per year, she added.
According to district Director of Transportation Mac Flood, Berkeley County drivers start at $9.85 an hour and after 26 years of service can make as much as $15 or $16 an hour. Drivers typically work six hours per day and only work on school days. "You'll probably find that this (problem) in the country in anywhere you go," Flood said. "It's an ongoing thing for us." The South Carolina legislature allots around $6 an hour for school transportation. It is up to the district to raise that pay to make it more competitive. With a bus driving staff of 190, the Berkeley County School District loses four or five drivers per month, Flood said. "I've known people who've worked all their life and never had this kind of responsibility," he said. "It doesn't take rocket science to figure it out that you can't get anyone to work for that (salary)." Faithful to the safety of the children, Middleton refuses to abandon her job for higher pay. She is one of a handful of district drivers who have been driving for more than 10 years in Berkeley County. "Some of (the other drivers) did go to Charleston County ... (and) we had a few that went to Dorchester County," Middleton said. "If you love children and want to see the right thing happen – that's why I stayed ... the money is important, but it's not everything." For right now, Middleton may be satisfied with parents taking an interest in her job. Oftentimes, the only interaction she has with them is when the school bus is late. "Parents don't realize what we go through until they ride the bus," Middleton said.
Lindsay Street is a staff writer with The Independent. Contact her at 572-0511 or lstreet@berkeleyind.com.