Create a Better Working Environment for WCPSS Bus Drivers

WCPSS Leadership

You and your fellow bus drivers deserve better.

Wake County schools cannot run without you, and you deserve to be treated with respect. Only giving you an extra attendance bonus is unacceptable, when you are dealing with the worst student behavior ever. You deserve to get paid twice a month; if Durham is doing it, why won’t Wake?

Your coworkers came together in November to come up with this petition. The only way to get these changes is for you to unite with them by signing this petition and building your power so you are taken seriously by the district.

The superintendent of Wake County Catty Moore is retiring at the end of this school year. The new superintendent will want to show the district they are a good leader and care about their employees. Imagine if every one of you and your coworkers stood behind this petition. Would the new superintendent want to show y’all that they care about your concerns, or start off getting every one of you angry?

Sign this petition by May 5th so y’all show your unity to the district before the next superintendent is even announced. If you have signed a physical copy already, no need to sign this. Come to the May 5th meeting at 5:30 pm (MLK Memorial Gardens: 1215 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Raleigh) to decide how and when to deliver the petition to the district.

Sponsored by
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Raleigh, NC

To: WCPSS Leadership
From: [Your Name]

We ask you to collaborate with bus drivers to create a better working environment for us and a safer transportation environment for our students.

We are requesting the following:

1. Administration needs to support school bus drivers (without retaliating) when we try to remove students from our bus for bad behavior. Put bullying repercussions in place and create a proactive safe space for bullied students, both on buses and in schools.

2. Bus drivers need to be paid every two weeks, and wage compression needs to be addressed. Ten month employees should be able to draw unemployment during the summer months.

3. We should get paid mental health days, and should not have to use annual days for inclement weather and bereavement days.

4. We ask the district to educate parents on the severity of their child’s behavior. Personal cell phones and tablets should not be allowed on the bus as they distract drivers and so as to protect the privacy of other students.

5. Principals, superintendent and assistant superintendents should ride difficult routes to see firsthand what some bus drivers are going through when it comes to bad student behavior. GPS needs to be added to tablets.

6. We would benefit from expert/professional workshops and training videos showing realistic students behavior, outlining categories of offenses, and going over tough situations ex: pregnant students, students with health conditions. Students with health conditions need cards outlining their conditions to help drivers respond in the case of an emergency.

7. For safety reasons, students need to have picture badges to scan when boarding their bus, and their pictures must be on the manifest. Bus drivers need to be alerted of school lockdowns and given directions of what to do during one.

8. We would like to have regular updates/meetings per department to keep us abreast of what's going on.