Joel Quiroz said he’s been working as a bus driver at the Rio Grande City Grulla ISD for the last three years.

This year, Quiroz said staffing issues are stretching his department thin.

“We used to have 15 plus spare drivers, now we only have two,” Quiroz said. “We're having to combine routes every day, even the special [education] routes, which are more delicate."

Quiroz said he believes pay is a recruitment and retainment issue. He told Channel 5 News other bus drivers want more coworkers as they are driving nearly double the kids they normally do, and that's a safety concern for them.

“A typical route has 30, 40 kids. But when you combine a route it can be 60, 70 — it's a safety issue,” Quiroz said. “You have kids you know, and kids you don't, and they're rowdy. You have to look up, down, it can cause an accident."

Quiroz and other drivers took their concerns to the school board. He says they don't plan on striking, but their frustrations have led the board to look for backup plans.

During a Tuesday school board meeting, Rio Grande City Grulla ISD trustees authorized district Superintendent Guadalupe Garza to reach out to other school district drivers to help close the gaps.

“She will be able to negotiate with other neighboring districts if there comes an emergency,” district school board president Veronica Barrera said.

Barrera said the district hopes to hire more drivers.

“What [Garza’s] doing is not replacing our bus drivers or hiring outside of our district, it's just preventing us from having a shortage,” Barrera said. “But the plan is if we don't get them from within this area, then we'll be able to reach out to the neighboring districts."

The district currently has five open bus driver positions as the district faces an $18 million budget deficit, nearly 60 administrative layoffs, and a hiring freeze.

RELATED STORY: Nearly 60 Rio Grande City Grulla ISD employees to be laid off amid budget deficit

“We were able to put the freeze aside and say, 'this is needed,’” Barrera said.

Although the district said they have yet to reach out to other school districts for that extra help, the idea is upsetting for Quiroz and his fellow drivers.

Quiroz said he feels it's a temporary fix. 

“We understand why they would do that, but we want to know why they would do that instead of fixing the issue at hand and hiring local drivers,” Quiroz said.

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