PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A shortage of school bus drivers in Palm Beach County is being blamed in part to higher wages being offered for Amazon delivery drivers.
“Amazon is a major player for everyone’s market but yes we are losing drivers to various private agencies but of course Amazon is one of them,” says School Board Member Frank Barbieri.
Barbieri says drivers with the district earn $14.57 an hour while Amazon drivers are earning over $20 an hour.
The District is now down 76 drivers leaving them with 657 drivers to cover 653 routes for 60,000 students a day.
“It’s frustrating in the morning I see parents struggling to just get out and get in their cars scrambling to get to work,” says Randy Doiron, a parent along one bus route in Boca Raton.
Some parents say buses in the morning can be 30 minutes late or longer.
“There are a lot of parents they’re waiting on the clock they know the bus comes at 730 they get to their job from there they don’t have a half-hour playing around waiting for the bus if it shows up or
if it doesn’t it's unacceptable,” said Lesley Abravanel.
On Thursday, the Palm Beach County School District will hold a job fair for school bus drivers at 10 am at 3300 Summit Blvd in West Palm Beach.
