VIENNA — The Maries County R-1 School District avoided reducing bus services by hiring Joseph Miller as a replacement driver during a quick Aug. 17 morning meeting.

Superintendent Teresa Messersmith said one of the current bus drivers is friends with Miller, who was retiring from the Dixon R-1 School District. She said that he can now collect retirement and contract with Maries R-1, bringing his 20 years of experience with him.

After one of the five employed bus drivers resigned, the school district was going to reduce door-to-door service due to the staffing shortage.

Since the 2024-25 school year, the district has only had five bus drivers to service its estimated 415 students. After one of their bus drivers died at the end of the previous school year, the district has since unsuccessfully tried to hire a sixth driver.

This has required about 15 to 20 families to meet the bus driver at a designated location within 3.5 miles from home. With only four drivers, more families would meet the driver at the beginning of or partway down a gravel road.

Messersmith said bus routes are about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, depending on who rides the bus. She said that what adds time is reaching families who live on county gravel roads. If a student lives five miles down the road, then it will take 10 minutes each way, plus two minutes to drop off the student and turn the bus around, totaling 22 minutes.

“I know it’s frustrating that some parents don’t have door-to-door service,” she said. “We wish we were able to provide door-to-door service to everyone, but unfortunately, if we did do that, bus routes would be extremely long.”

With five drivers, most students still receive door-to-door service.

Messersmith said that the school district reached out to contract bus driver companies, but they couldn’t meet the district’s need for two drivers. She also said that districts in bigger cities like Jefferson City and Rolla have the same problem.

“It’s a problem across the state. Almost every school you talk to is short bus drivers,” she said.

While Messersmith feels better to have five drivers, she said that the district still wants a sixth driver. She believes that if the district hires another bus driver, then the district could return to door-to-door service for all students.

The district pays $51,000 per year for the bus route if the driver owns their own bus and takes care of fuel, insurance and maintenance. If the driver uses a school-owned bus, then the pay is $25 per hour as an employee for 20 hours per week with health insurance and retirement benefits.

“We are doing our best to hire another driver,” Messersmith said. “So if anyone is wanting to drive, I would love to hear from them.”