I decided to ask someone likely to know what school bus drivers did between the times that they retrieve and drop students off at and pick them up from school. I was told that they waited at a barn and played cards during those times, though I’m aware that some districts assign bus drivers to schools during those times, which is most prudent…

One of the chief advantages of school districts managing their own student transportation services/public school buses would be that they could regularly assign bus drivers to other qualifying duties within the schools, on the basis of need, and without having to pay more than fair wages for a typical full-time employee. This could include providing extra school security/monitoring duties, maintenance, janitorial services, office work (filing, data entry, etc.), kitchen work, laundry duties and/or assisting with students, up until a reasonable time before student dismissal.

Interested school bus drivers should also be privileged to pursue higher education opportunities during driving intervals to qualify for promotion, and, once promoted, avail those privileges to newer applicants.