VIENNA — The Maries R-1 Board of Education has voted on changes regarding the district’s buses at its last two meetings.

During the closed session of the Aug. 20 meeting, the board discussed making changes to the structure of its contracts with bus drivers. Following the closed session, the board voted to terminate the bus driver contracts and offer the drivers with reworked contracts.

Superintendent Teresa Messersmith said during the meeting that she had talked with the drivers and they understood the process. In a follow-up phone call, Messersmith said the contracts restructured the way the district compensates the drivers.

The terminated contracts paid the drivers per mile based on whether they drove on paved or gravel roads. The rate for gravel roads was $3.35 per mile, and the rate for paved roads was $2.95 per mile.

Under the new contracts, drivers will receive a flat rate of $50,000 per route regardless of the route’s composition. Some drivers saw their compensation increase while some decreased. The district’s route drivers own their buses and continue to pay for their own gas, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Messersmith said some of the drivers prompted the change when they brought concerns to the district about not making enough money to continue with their routes. The new payment structure creates stability by taking out variable mileage that drivers had to track. Now, drivers make the same amount whether they have to add to the route because of flooding or if the route gets shorter because some students no longer ride the bus.

The district already faces a bus driver shortage and continues to search for another route driver. Messersmith said the search has continued since she took over as superintendent three years ago. At the time, the district had seven route drivers. That number has fallen to five because over the last few years, the school has not found any candidates to take over a route despite constantly listing the job. Districts across the state have faced similar staffing issues.

If the district found a driver, it would consider changing the routes mid-year to provide students with shorter rides. The superintendent’s office continues to accept applications for qualified drivers with or without a bus. The school could contract a bus from a company if the driver did not have their own.

Messersmith said the district is also short on drivers for activities such as athletic events and other trips though a few people have been working on obtaining their CDL with passenger endorsements. She hoped to add those people to the district’s activity driver roster soon.

The board also met for a brief special meeting on Sept. 12 to approve the purchase of a new bus for activities. The 2021 bus the district bought for $52,000  has traveled about 80,000 miles. Messersmith said the district will use it as needed to transport groups such as preschool or Rolla Technical Institute students.