The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees approved the Transportation Department incentive program on Dec. 13. This incentive program is comprised of three incentives: perfect attendance, Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) driver referral and CDL driver retention incentive.
The Perfect Attendance Incentive allows Dallas ISD drivers and bus monitors with perfect attendance during a month to earn an extra $50 for that month. Eligible staff must have perfect attendance and cover all assigned morning and afternoon routes.
The incentive, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019, aims to reduce the absence rate for drivers and monitors. Eligible positions for this incentive are full-time Dallas ISD Transportation employees who are bus monitors, MPV drivers and drivers with a CDL. The employees can earn up to an extra $500 under the incentive during the year.
The CDL Driver Referral Incentive will award any Dallas ISD staff member who refers a CDL driver applicant who is hired as a bus driver. It will pay $200 for referring an applicant with a CDL and P/S endorsement at the time of hire and $100 for referring an applicant who has only a CDL at the time of hire.
The CDL Driver Retention Incentive awards any CDL bus driver an $800 annual retention incentive. The eligible employee must be an employee on Jan 1, 2019 and remain an active employee with Dallas ISD until the date the incentive is paid to qualify. The incentive will pay $400 in December 2019 and another $400 in May 2020.
Bus drivers with a CDL and appropriate credentials earn a minimum starting wage of $20 per hour with additional compensation based on experience levels.
Dallas ISD Chief of Operations Scott Layne said the incentive program is expected to reduce the number of bus drivers who are absent, which can cause delays to bus routes on a given day. Layne said while the district is still facing some transportation-related issues, on-time arrival rates continue to increase.
“We have encountered bumps as we launched our own transportation system, and we continue to implement changes that will improve on-time arrival rates for all of our students.” Layne said. “But we are very encouraged by the progress we have been making and the results we are seeing. We continue to see significant improvements.”
Dallas ISD is still hiring drivers with a CDL. A driver with a CDL who wants to earn at least $20 an hour and be eligible for the incentive program can go here to apply.
