ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / August 19, 2000

RESERVE – The St. John the Baptist Parish School Board is going to trysomething new to try and solve its problem of a lack of substitute bus drivers.

School Superintendent Chris Donaldson told the school board the first day of school went relatively smoothly except for some “glitches” with the school buses.

“We had to double up on some bus routes,” said Donaldson, “because we didn’t have enough substitute bus drivers.”To add to the problem, one of the two substitute bus drivers was made a full-time driver by the school board due to a vacancy. That leaves theschool bus system with only one substitute driver.

C.J. Watkins was not happy with the bus driver situation and asked whathappened on the first day of school.

Felix Boughton, executive director of Business and Finance, told the board that due to absenteeism the first day there weren’t enough bus drivers to fill the routes and several buses had to run multiple routes.

“The illnesses affecting the bus drivers is not long-term,” Boughton assured the school board, “but we do not have enough drivers.”As a remedy, Boughton asked the board to approve a substitute bus driver plan in which school board employees would be asked to be substitute bus drivers.

“There is a shortage of bus drivers all over the country,” said Boughton.

“Other systems are using employees as drivers.”The plan calls for the school board to pay for the training and a commercial driver’s license for every employee who wants to sign up as a substitute bus driver. The cost to the school board would be $8,000 or$400 per person.

The offer of free training and a CDL would go to the first 20 employees that signed up. However, the employee would have to sign a contractagreeing to be a substitute driver for a minimum of two years.

If an employee quits being a bus driver before the two years is up they will have to reimburse the $400 to the school board.

Boughton’s plan will be beneficial for both the employee and the school board. Employees can earn extra income, and the school board willincrease its pool of substitute drivers and will insure that CDL drivers will be at school sites all the time.

Boughton assured the board that full-time bus drivers would not lose any income on the plan.

“I don’t know if this will work, but we would like to give it a try,” Boughton said.

The board voted to accept the plan 8-0. Felix LeBouef, James Madere andJohn Crose were absent from the meeting.

In other school board business: Donaldson announced that the first day attendance at all the schools was 4,902. He anticipates a final figure of 6,400 students by the end of nextweek.

It was announced that the principal of Leon Godchaux Junior High, Grady Hall, has become disabled and will no longer be able to work. The schoolboard accepted Donaldson’s recommendation of making assistant principal Lydia Bazile acting principal for the rest of the school year.

The school board extended the lease of Woodland School to the Powerhouse Christian Church for another 10 years. The church has rentedthe school since 1994, and since that time has done extensive reconstruction work on the building. Watkins said their presence has”improved the quality of life in the neighborhood.”

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