My name is Jeffrey Rudolph and I have been a school bus driver for Orange County Public Schools Transportation since the start of this current 2015-2016 school year. I am reaching out to unify supporters for the better treatment of school bus drivers and monitors as well as for their fair compensation.

I believe that Orange County Public Schools should pay an additional $4 an hour to transportation staff, making bus drivers in a benefited position earn a starting pay of $16 an hour, and monitors around $14 an hour. I also believe that for all the liability that one person must carry for up to 84 passengers at a time, several times per day, it is only fair to place a monitor on ALL regular-ed routes as well as special needs. (Bus monitors help with special needs care as well as "monitor" student behavior.) My explanation for why we deserve these two major changes are as follows:

1) The two aforementioned positions demand an extraordinary amount of patience, mental strain, and physical labor. Therefore, when many new drivers take up summer jobs at other transportation companies for either similar or more money, they never return. This increases the workload to an unacceptable level on employees that either chose to or have no other choice but to stay. Increasing pay should help fill the gap on the currently approximately 90 open routes throughout the county as well as reduce route "combos."

2) I personally pick up students off of dirt roads and sweep my bus every afternoon after my pre-trip inspection as well as mop the floor every Wednesday. These chores alone take me a total of around 2 and 1/2 hours per week, but there is also turning in the buses every 30 work days for inspection, retrieving, cleaning, and fueling spare buses, and taking them in for any required emergency maintenance. 

3) We, and our managers, must deal with parent conflicts to a greater degree than teachers. It is amazing to what lengths some of these parents will go to try and get you fired because they don't believe you are doing everything in your power to deal with issues that arise. 

4) We are entrusted to transport and provide for the safety of CHILDREN. These are a parent's most prized possessions, and yet a 10-month-per-year job at the current rate does not even provide FULL-TIME, BENEFITTED drivers with a base salary above the POVERTY LINE! I am appalled at the condition of many of our drivers' personally owned vehicles, my own included. I can call dispatch to get emergency roadside assistance with my bus for a flat tire, but I can't afford to buy and install 2 new tires on my own car myself! I have witnessed other drivers in tears over such matters because they know they can't afford what they need either. I do have student loan payments but I don't have children and yet my monthly rent of $735 is already more than half of my monthly pay.

5) As far as I have been informed by OCPS, we are entitled to NO BREAKS! All previous positions that I have held require a 30-minute lunch and a certain amount of breaks depending on the consecutive hours worked. I drive for nearly 3 and 1/2 straight hours each afternoon, going directly from one school to the next and loading upon arrival. On a couple of occasions, I worked nearly 12 hours in one day with only 20 minutes for lunch. I have recently been informed by the union that we are supposed to have a short break after 3 straight hours of driving, but this never actually happens in the afternoons. Drivers with a gap of time in between their regular routes are often called upon by dispatch to cover another route for an absent driver because of the shortage of substitute ("T-") drivers.

6) The expectations regarding paperwork are obscene. Since I have begun work, I have filled out attendance sheet after attendance sheet after referral after daily hours justification report after incident report...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Because of this, many of my student/parent/administrator conflicts are not dealt with in a timely manner. If any amount of paper waste seemed to equate to the cost of electronic ID card machines for each bus, it would be at OCPS.

7) Instead of having the trouble-makers getting lost in the system through relentless paperwork and suspensions and to prevent accidents at the sight of a fist-fight by the driver, monitors can make sure everyone remains seated since students are all-too-often too disrespectful to control from the driver's seat.

My theories for why things have gotten so far out of control:

1) Orange Education Support Professionals Association (OESPA) is our union. I happen to be a member of the union, but union membership among transportation staff lingers at around 20%. If more people could afford to have union membership, I am sure they would and OESPA will become a more sizable force to be reckoned with.

2) The expectations placed on our managers are so outrageous that they do not have ample time to adequately tend to each issue that arises.

On a final note, I am creating this petition at the risk of losing a job that I desperately need. I have always admired my own school bus drivers and that is why I decided to become one, but I don't think they ever went through anything quite like this. However, I find the working conditions so deeply appalling that I am hoping you all reading this will show your support and sign. Thank you and God Bless.