Locality Pay Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. School Bus Driver Shortage: Bus Routes Canceled, Parents Scrambling

Statewide, there’s about 4,000 buses and 2,900 drivers.

A continuing West Virginia school bus driver shortage has bus routes being canceled daily and parents scrambling to get their children to school.

Eric Keesecker is the executive director of the Berkeley County Schools transportation department. The county has 240 bus routes that need to be covered twice a day, every school day. Keesecker said he’s canceling at least three routes daily, each route averaging 50-55 students. He said it’s the worst he’s seen in his 17 years on the job.

“We have 15 vacancies that we start off with every day,” Keesecker said. “We have a few substitutes and most of those are retired bus drivers that only want to work a couple of days a week, so basically we have zero substitutes.”

Before the school year started, Raleigh County Schools Transportation Director Greg Betkijian developed a series of problems. He said he had unusually low numbers in summer bus driver classes, several drivers that left for other opportunities and the usual retired bus drivers that filled in the gaps weren’t coming forward this year.

“We had urgent illnesses and other medical issues as well,” Betkijian said. “It was like a perfect storm. We have about 120 bus routes each day. We don’t have a full list of full-time drivers, and we don’t have a full list of subs either. There’s about five or six runs every day that we’re not going to be able to cover, and that’s if everybody works every day.”

Keesecker said Berkeley County parents on canceled bus routes have stepped up.

“A lot of parents have developed a carpooling system to get the kids to school,” he said. “However, if there isn’t a ride for that child, then the child stays home, and they get their work for the day off of our website.”

Betkijian said other Raleigh County bus drivers try to pick up second routes, but that creates confusion.

“Especially for the younger grades,” Betkijian said. “A lot of the elementary kids, they know they ride a certain bus number. If another bus picks them up, it creates some confusion for the child which, in turn, creates confusion for the parents.”

David Baber is transportation director for the West Virginia Department of Education. He said statewide, there’s about 4,000 buses and 2,900 drivers. Baber said he did like what he heard about the Berkeley County parent carpools.

“At least we’re getting the students to school that way,” Baber said. “I don’t know what we could do at the state level to do anything about that.”

All agree what would help recruit and retain is a pay raise. West Virginia school bus drivers with a CDL license make about $25,000 a year. Keesecker said they can make triple that in the private sector.

“There are so many manufacturers and companies that have come into this area, not just Berkeley County, across the state line in Maryland and Virginia,” Keesecker said.”We’re all fighting for the same labor pool.”

The issue isn’t unique to border counties, and Barber said the state Department of Education continues to push the West Virginia Legislature for needed bus driver pay raises. But he said the challenge goes beyond that.

“We are losing or have lost people to other industries,” Barber said. “We don’t have people beating the door down to get in here anymore like we used to. It’s just a different time that we’re in. We’ve got to figure this out. ”

Baber said a critical shortage of school bus mechanics continues as well.

“They’re going to higher paid jobs,” Baber said. “Some counties want their mechanics to also drive school buses and some don’t want to do that. We have them leaving left and right as well.”

Betkijian did say in Raleigh County, some things are looking up.

“We do have two classes going on right now,” Betkijian said. “We will see five or six folks come out of those classes very soon and become bus drivers for us. I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our cancellations each week are trending downward. I don’t know what the answer is, but we’re going to keep recruiting and keep training and see if we can overcome this problem.”

Fixing W.Va. Corrections Crisis Has Hints Of Possible Resolution

Legislators say fixing the state’s corrections crisis is not just about money. And when it does come to money, they say it’s not just about a one-time funding fix.

Information from the WV Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows there are still more than a thousand open jobs overall. The vacancy rate for corrections officers alone is more than 33 percent. The state’s correctional system consists of 11 prisons, 10 regional jails, 10 juvenile centers and three work-release sites.

In a media briefing earlier this week, Gov. Jim Justice said there may be some steps taken toward resolution next month.

“It’s likely in August before we can have a special session,” Justice said. “Our folks are meeting constantly with the folks upstairs.”

Folks upstairs means legislators. Rep. David Kelly, R-Tyler, and House Jails and Prisons Committee Chair, said the meetings are constant and moving toward a consensus.

“We’ve been working diligently through the summer,” Kelly said. “We’re trying to come up with a plan that everyone can get behind. I think we’re getting closer and closer, and it would be my hope and my desire that we could present something in our August interim legislative meetings.”

Kelly said there are issues that need to be resolved besides the low pay scale for West Virginia corrections personnel when compared to border states.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into these discussions,” Kelly said. “One of the things is, how can we make a pathway forward to try to reduce the overcrowding there?”

Kelly said discussions also include incentives to recruit corrections personnel other than simply using money. He said possible college payments were under discussion, but said there has been no talk about subsidizing childcare.

Kelly said the often-discussed raises, locality pay and possible bonus amounts have not been agreed upon. He did say however, that they will not be packaged as a one-time funding fix, but designated over perpetuity – as “base building.”

“If any legislation is passed,” Kelly said. “It will be built into the budget every year thereafter. That’s what I mean by ‘base building’.”

Kelly said keeping 379 national guard members working corrections jobs under an emergency executive order, duties costing taxpayers $20 million a year, can’t last.

“Those numbers are unsustainable,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to find a pathway forward, to turn the light out above the dome, and to get people through the door that can be hired and that we can retain.”

Justice began his correction crisis comments by giving a potential resolution date and expressing hope for a conclusive outcome. He ended those comments with not quite as much optimism..

“There’s no point in calling a special session, spending your money for two or three days or a week or whatever it may be,” Justice said. “To listen to 15 different solutions and go nowhere. We don’t need that. We’ve got to come to an agreement, and we’re working on it.”

Understanding Proposed Changes To PEIA

On this episode of The Legislature Today, Chris Schulz speaks with Fred Albert, president of AFT-WV, and Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, the deputy speaker of the House, about proposed changes to PEIA.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, the Senate passed a bill over the weekend making changes to the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA). Like health insurance everywhere, expenses keep increasing, but the state program hasn’t kept up, causing some state hospitals to declare that they would no longer accept the program.

The bill that has headed to the House of Delegates includes premium increases, which Gov. Jim Justice has previously said he would not accept. Reporter Chris Schulz speaks with Fred Albert, president of AFT-WV, and Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, the deputy speaker of the House, to understand the bill.

Also, a public hearing in the House chamber Tuesday morning focused on a bill that would enhance oversight of the West Virginia Fusion Center.

A bill that changes how candidates for office across the state announce their intent drew close to an hour of discussion on the Senate floor. Chris Schulz has more.

The House of Delegates approved House Bill 3270, which would amend the deliberate intent statute to limit non-economic damages to $500,000 in these kinds of cases.

There was also spirited debate in the House chamber on House Bill 2953, a locality pay study bill meant to retain in-state employees now crossing the borders – but it failed by vote of 42 to 56.

Finally, Tuesday was E Day, or Environmental Day, at the state legislature. Various statewide and local organizations came to lobby lawmakers on a variety of issues. Some came as individuals representing concerns specific to communities. A few lawmakers stood with them. Energy and Environment Reporter Curtis Tate brings us this story.

Having trouble viewing the video below? Click here to watch it on YouTube.

The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Locality Pay Bill Fails In House

House Bill 2953 would have created the Commission on Cost-of-Living Adjustments, tasked with designating the five counties most in need of locality pay adjustments. The bill failed on a vote of 42 to 56.

A bill meant to retain in-state employees now crossing the borders to neighboring states, failed in the House of Delegates on Tuesday.

The commission would have reported findings back to the West Virginia Legislature. A funding mechanism would have been created, but it would have been up to the legislature to review the findings and decide if any taxpayer money should be allocated.

A spirited “haves and have nots” debate on the House chamber floor focused on Eastern Panhandle job retention, versus concern from the coalfields and elsewhere over preferential treatment.

Del. Bill Ridenhour, R-Jefferson, spoke from an Eastern Panhandle perspective.

“I live in Jefferson County and I have talked with, literally, about 7,000 of my constituents,” Ridenhour said. “They are loyal West Virginians, they want to work in West Virginia, they simply can’t afford it based upon the cost of living in my area, in my district, in my county. They work, in most cases, in Maryland and Pennsylvania, or in Virginia.”

Del. Adam Vance, R-Wyoming, was one of many opposing a bill he said ignores the needs of coalfield counties.

“We need to be a team and there’s 100 players on the team, not five, and there’s five counties that have to be there,” Vance said. “There’s 55 counties in this state and think of it as the top five never touching the ones in the south. The ones down at the bottom, which is Wyoming, McDowell, Mingo, Boone, they never see none of it.”

The bill would have also created a Locality Cost-of-Living Adjustment Fund, administered by and under the control of the Secretary of Revenue.

Locality Pay Moves Back To Legislative Front Burner

State employee shortages in critical positions like state police, corrections and health care are often acute in border counties, where neighboring states offer better pay.

Lawmakers with the interim Joint Standing Committee on Finance heard from Division of Personnel Director Chery Webb on Monday. She explained West Virginia has a limited geographical pay differential system already in place. She said agencies can explain their circumstances and apply for a pay differential approval.

“What the geographic pay differential allows you to do is to set the pay for a specific area for a specific classification based on data to address an issue that may be occurring in that area,” Webb said.

She gave an example of the Department of Veterans Assistance requesting a pay differential for the Barboursville Veterans Home.

“They were having a very hard time getting licensed practical nurses. It becomes challenging because Barboursville is competing with Huntington and with the state hospitals as well as the private ones,” Webb said. “Then, when you’re that close to the tri-state area, you’re competing with Kentucky and Ohio. You have to look at the salaries in those surrounding areas, and to see what an institution may need to offer to be able to get somebody hired in.”

Webb said most state agencies do not take advantage of requesting geographic pay differentials. She explained the challenges with the program are funding the pay hike, and concerns about how fellow employees will feel.

“Other employees are going to think, if I pay certain employees in this area, this amount, what about the employees that live over here? Will people move from over here to over here?” Webb said. “Sometimes that’s something that people have to take into consideration.”

Webb told lawmakers she has also discovered through her conversations with state agencies, it’s not always about money.

“Is it the environment in which they’re working in? There are people that want more work-life balance in this day and age,” Webb said. “Is there an opportunity that they want to have more of a say in the workforce, and they feel like they’re not having an opportunity to have meaningful work.”

Two bills to create locality pay either failed or were tabled and forgotten in the 2022 legislative general session. Eastern Panhandle lawmakers and Gov. Jim Justice are expected to push for locality pay in the upcoming 2023 general session.