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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.”

Pay Raise, PEIA, Tax Cut Bills Pass Senate And House

On Saturday, the House of Delegates met in an extended session and took up several major bills. This was an effort to shore up the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA).

On Saturday, the House of Delegates met in an extended session and took up several major bills.

This was an effort to shore up the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA). Recently, hospitals and providers have announced they would stop accepting the insurance plan. To fix it, Senate Bill 268 would require a minimum 110 percent reimbursement of the Medicare rate for all providers.

On the other hand, it would increase employee premiums by roughly 25 percent. Spouses who have insurance available through their own employers would have to pay an additional $147 a month to stay on the plan. No coverage would change, including for out-of-state services, and no retirees would be affected.

Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, in speaking to a rejected amendment to the PEIA bill, asked about Gov. Jim Justice’s rainy day fund for PEIA.

“But the governor said in the State of the State that he proposed to have $100 million put into it, the rainy day fund for PEIA,” Rowe said. “Well, what does that do? Well, it allows us to step in any increases we want to do so that it’s not disruptive to families, very important.”

The program had a projected $154 million deficit for Fiscal Year 2024.

Senate Bill 268 passed the House after nearly three hours of discussion by 20 delegates.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 26 to 6 Monday.

The House also approved its own version of a 2024 budget – reducing the governor’s proposal by about $250 million to account for other priorities.

The House budget adds $800,000 for after-school programs, $77 million in support for families as directed through House Bill 2002 and $842 million to develop the foster care portal as set forth in House Bill 2538.

Additional funds were added in the House budget for the Community and Technical College System and the Learn and Earn program established through House Bill 3417, the newly created Woody Williams State Military Funeral Honor Guard fund and the uniform allowance for members of the National Guard.

The House unanimously approved an amended Senate Bill 423, which would increase the annual salaries of members of the West Virginia State Police, and public-school teachers by $2,300. The pay raises would become effective July 1.

House Finance Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, explained the bill.

“The salary schedule set forth in this statute is as follows: For professional educators and professional students, support personnel, collectively teachers $2,300 an increase in annual pay, based on a 200 day per year contract for public school service personnel $230 slashed to $115 increase on monthly pay. Note the $230/$115 difference because their service personnel contract is to work more than three and a half hours a day. The raise is $230 a month, others for three and a half hours or less is $115 a month. For members of the State Police and certain civil forensic lab personnel, $2,300 annual pay,” Criss said. “Unlike in prior years where the pay raise for Education State Employees, we’re effectively giving across the board pay raise approximately a 5 percent on the average of the respective group in aggregate salaries. Likewise, the state police were given an across the board pay raise equal to approximately 5 percent. On average, across state, employee aggregate salaries except last year when the state police got a 10 percent per raise. This provides for a $2,300 per year pay raise for all of them. All salary increases in this bill become effective July 1, 2023. I urge passage.”

The Senate approved the amendment unanimously and the bill is on the way to the governor.

The House approved House Bill 2526, agreeing with the Senate’s proposals to reduce the personal income tax. HB 2526 represents a $754 million cut in taxes.

“This is a slam dunk,” Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, said. “This is an absolute complete and total slam dunk. The people of this state are taxed enough, already. Let’s lower their taxes. This makes sure that every single income bracket for PEIA, even if you pay the additional money for your spouse, and you’ve got the additional current increases to bring us up to inflation, not one person will have a net loss of earnings, not one person. Let’s keep that promise.”

Personal income tax rates would be cut by 21.25 percent across all six tax brackets, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023. Additional personal income tax reductions would be limited to no more than 10 percent at any given time, but a formula would activate additional tax cuts when surplus allows.

Taxpayers would receive a 100 percent tax credit on their vehicles when they pay personal property taxes, and small businesses would be able to claim a 50 percent refundable tax credit against personal income taxes or the taxes paid on machinery, equipment and inventory.

“We’re standing here at the threshold of what I would call generational tax cuts, things that are going to mean a big deal to our constituents back home,” said Del. Trenton Barnhart, R-Pleasants. “However, while I believe in that bill, one thing I believe in more is a general principle, and that is to reduce the tax burden on the people that state and that’s what we have the opportunity to do. We need to concur on this need to move on and everybody gets something that they can agree with. And everybody got part of what they wanted. And we’re going to help the people of West Virginia.”

Disabled military service veterans would receive a refundable tax credit against their personal income taxes for real property taxes paid on their homes.

HB 2526 now goes to the governor for a signature.

Union Leaders Voice Opposition To PEIA Bill

Union representatives say Senate Bill 268 would benefit the richest and hurt the poorest.

The Senate’s Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) bill is now in the hands of the House of Delegates. Proposed health insurance premium increases and coverage reductions to shore up the financially challenged program have many up in arms. Bill defenders say proposed pay raises and tax cuts will even things out.

Union leaders representing many of the state’s 230,000 participants in the program held a press conference just outside the House chamber Friday morning. This comes after the House Finance Committee advanced the bill to the House floor Thursday night.

Union representatives say Senate Bill 268 would benefit the richest and hurt the poorest by triggering a 26 percent premium increase, penalizing public employees that are married, potentially leading to the exclusion of first responders from PEIA and creating uncertainty for retirees.

West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword led the union charge.

“The plan is designed in their mind to address the solvency of PEIA by reducing benefits on the plan participants and kicking people off the plan,” Sword said. “As opposed to finding and directing a dedicated revenue stream. That’s our number one goal.”

In countering the union’s claim, House Finance Committee member Del. John Paul Hott, R-Grant, said state actuarial data shows a $2,300 raise coupled with personal income and vehicle tax cuts will even things out – and help counter an expected $400 million PEIA shortfall coming in the next few years.

“If we don’t address the issue, it will be insolvent probably within the next three to five years,” Hott said. “Some of the pros would be that accompanying that bill is a raise for the public employees with an attempt to offset the average increase in premium and hopefully be some type of a net positive.”

House Finance Committee member Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, called the current PEIA proposal unfair with advantages going to those with higher incomes. Rowe explained an amendment he was planning to propose to help fund PEIA.

“What we need to do is to refund the rainy day fund that we’ve had for a number of years,” Rowe said. “I’ll have an amendment to do that on the floor, but $100 million, and that would eliminate these huge increases.”

Sword was asked where the shore-up money should come from if not PEIA members. He said premium increases were expected sooner or later, but not this large lump sum and talked of tapping the state’s billion dollar plus surplus.

“I think the surplus is a good place to start. We’re swimming in money down here and there is no excuse,” Sword said. “We can make it right. Get all the stakeholders in the room and have some honest dialogue. If we can get them to that point, we could come up with a solution that we can all buy in on.”

On Friday, the House moved SB 268 to third reading with the right to amend. Several amendments are expected. The House will reconvene Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

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.

Senate Moves Budget, PEIA, Pay Raises In Saturday Session

The Senate returned Saturday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. after a brief recess to pass several important bills including tax cuts, pay raises for state employees and a budget.

With a compromise on tax cuts seemingly solidified with the passage of House Bill 2526, the Senate was able to pass Senate Bill 150 Saturday afternoon after suspending rules to advance it to third reading.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said total appropriations in the budget would be just over $20 billion. He highlighted several changes to the budget’s original version, including changes made to reflect the dissolution of the Department of Health and Human Resources.

“Each of the state hospitals are broken out into their own budget item,” Tarr said. “This is the first step of many that will begin to separate DHHR into three entities.”

Tarr went on to say that the separation of DHHR’s budget into distinct items is part of a larger push for increased transparency into the department’s – or its successor’s – budgets, by far the largest single portion of the budget each year.

“Instead of seeing just a few pages for a $7 billion budget, we can actually see if they’re getting the money for what the state appropriates it for,” Tarr said.

Tarr also highlighted the appropriations for the Public Employee Insurance Agency pursuant to the completion of Senate Bill 268.

“There’s $49 million in increased reimbursement to health care providers so that we don’t have hospitals saying they don’t accept PEIA,” he said. “It also takes the plan to 80/20 so that it’s solvent for our foreseeable future.”

Tarr referred to the announcement by WVU-Wheeling Hospital just before the start of the legislative session that it would no longer accept PEIA patients starting in July due to its low reimbursement rates.

He also pointed towards more than $30 million in the budget for the implementation of the Third Grade Success Act, as well as money to address deferred maintenance in higher education and state corrections.

The budget would increase appropriations for the Department of Economic Development from $600 million to $900 million and sets aside $10 million for grant raises to go to Emergency Medical Service personnel as well as $50 million to have a National Cancer Institute in West Virginia.

“We have one of the highest incidences of cancer per capita in the United States,” Tarr said. “That National Cancer Institute allows for research into cancer so those patients who are having failed treatments…they now have a means to go get research medicine and get it in research programs with medicine given to them free of charge.”

Tarr ended his summary of the budget by emphasizing spending on dams.

“We’re finally getting a start on taking care of dams in West Virginia that are literally falling apart,” he said. “By doing that we’re gonna save community upon community from damage by floodwaters.”

Big Changes To PEIA

The longest debate of the afternoon surrounded Senate Bill 268, which aims to address the insolvency of PEIA.

Premiums for PEIA members have not been raised since 2012, and the agency currently only reimburses providers at half of the Medicare rate. On the first day of the session, the Senate passed Senate Bill 127 to increase the reimbursement of hospital rates to 110 percent of Medicare.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, explained the bill. He noted that the bill mandates what is known as an 80/20 split for costs between PEIA and employees. He also explained:

The bill removes a cap placed on the annual maximum benefit for Applied Behavioral Analysis.
The bill rearranges mandated benefits placed in other sections of the bill. These benefits included the section that relates to coverage for vaccinations, contraceptives, and group life insurance.
The Group Life Insurance language was amended to reflect that the group life and accidental death insurance is in the amount of 10,000 for every employee, but still allows you to get additional plans to them.
The bill provides that health programs may be offered in addition to existing language that provides PEIA may have wellness programs.
These programs are voluntary and for the participants and separate from any medical benefit.
The bill provides PEIA shall use networks to provide care to its members out of state.
The bill provides that an employee spouse that has health insurance available through another employee, then the employer may not cover any portion of the premiums for the employee spouse coverage unless the employee adds his or her spouse to his or her coverage by paying the cost of the actuarial value of the plan provided that this does not apply to spouses of retired employees.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, raised a number of issues, including raises to employee premiums.

“What about the premium increases for each salary tier? As I understand, it can be 14 percent to 26 percent. Is that correct? And how’s that number determined?” he said.

Takubo explained that a higher salary individual with the more expensive plan with family coverage might see a 24 percent increase. He explained the $2,300 pay increase would help buffer the increase.

Caputo ended his statement by expressing concern for retirees on PEIA.

“I’m deeply concerned about the plan participants but I’m more deeply concerned about the retirees,” he said. “We did a little bit for those on the lower tier, but my concerns are this is going to put a huge burden on the folks that serviced the state for so, so many years for so little pay. And now the benefits are even going to be less and less.”

Senate Bill 268 passed on a vote of 29 to four. Caputo was joined in dissent by fellow Democrat Sen. Mike Woelfel, D – Cabell, as well as Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio and Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha.

Gov. Jim Justice has previously pledged that there would be no PEIA premium increases while he was in office so it is unclear how he will react to the bill. One reason West Virginia teachers went on strike in 2018 and 2019 was proposed hikes to PEIA premiums.

Pay Raises For Some

Senate Bill 423 would allow for a $2,300 across the board pay increase for certain public state employees.

Those eligible for the raise include public school employees as well as employees with the State Police.

A pay increase for other state employees would be subject to the appropriations in the state budget.

Senator Mike Caputo, D-Marion, expressed concern to Finance Committee Chair Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, that the pay raise would not benefit all state employees. Caputo said he had received calls in the past from Department of Highway workers whose salaries are not in the code.

“Do you feel confident that every state employee will get a $2,300 across the board raise whether they are a teacher, or whether they drive the snowplow truck?” Caputo asked.

Tarr responded he was confident that every state employee would receive a pay raise.

“Those agencies… it’s up to them, whether they decide they go up to $2300 because that is not what this law contemplates. The bill before you contemplates a $2,300 pay raise for state employees whose salary is set in the pay schedule and state code,” Tarr said.

Caputo further pressed Tarr for an answer to his question.

“I just want to make sure that everybody believes that there’s money out there for everybody to get a pay raise,” Caputo emphasized.

“We have provided the spending authority in the budget. It’s up to the governor for anybody that’s not a general revenue. When’s the last time we gave a pay raise that didn’t happen?” Tarr responded.

Commission Recommends Legislative Pay Raise

The Citizens Legislative Compensation Commission is recommending a pay raise for members of the West Virginia Legislature. Members of the West Virginia Legislature currently make $20,000 a year with additional money for participating in interim meetings and travel expenses.

The Citizens Legislative Compensation Commission is recommending a pay raise for members of the West Virginia Legislature.

Members of the West Virginia Legislature currently make $20,000 a year with additional money for participating in interim meetings and travel expenses.

If a new recommendation is approved, the annual pay would increase to $28,000 which is equal to the per capita income of the state according to the U.S. Census.

Pay for extra duty days and interim meetings will also increase from $150 to $250 a day as part of the recommendation.

This pay raise would not take effect until January 2025. Legislative pay was last increased in January 2009.

The measure was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.