What One Indiana District's 'Drive the Bus' Event Teaches About Hiring School Bus Drivers
Your buses can be in perfect working order and still sit in the lot. That is the problem Westfield-Washington Schools, just north of Indianapolis, is working to solve right now, and it has nothing to do with engines or tires.
The district has 11 bus routes without a driver and needs to hire about 25 drivers to cover them. To close that gap, it held its first-ever "Drive the Bus" recruiting event, as reported by School Transportation News from FOX 59 coverage in Indianapolis.
The numbers behind the shortage
11 open bus routes
About 25 drivers needed to run those routes and provide backup staffing coverage
About 9 weeks to fully train a new driver
Notice the gap between routes and hires. The district is not just filling empty seats. It needs more than twice as many drivers as open routes, so that one sick day or resignation does not leave students waiting at the curb.
The fleet isn't the problem. Staffing is.
Transportation Director Mike Reinhardt told reporters the district's transportation operation runs well. What it lacks is people to drive. His goal is straightforward: get drivers into the open routes so students arrive at school on time.
The event: let candidates try the job
Rather than post a listing and hope, the district invited prospective drivers to learn about the role and get a firsthand feel for operating a school bus. For someone who has never sat behind the wheel of one, that experience can be the difference between wondering about the job and applying for it.
Who the job fits
Jeff Cross has driven for Westfield-Washington since 2017. After about 50 years of full-time work, and old enough to collect Social Security, he wanted something that fit retirement. Driving gives him a couple of hours in the morning, a free late morning and early afternoon, and a couple more hours later in the day before he is done.
That split schedule is a drawback for someone who needs a full-time paycheck. For a retiree, it is the selling point.
Training is the long pole
Reinhardt says it takes about nine weeks to fully train a new driver. The district's program prepares drivers to manage student behavior and to handle hazards on the road, and he describes it as deliberately thorough so drivers and students both succeed.
The week of the event made his point for him. Earlier that week, a Warren Township school bus overturned on Interstate 465, and the investigation into that crash is ongoing. Westfield-Washington trains its drivers for scenarios like that one. "You can never predict an accident or what you might run into," Reinhardt said.
The district plans to keep hiring until every open route is filled.
What leaders should actually do
Count your real gap, not just your open routes. Westfield-Washington needs more than two drivers for every open route once backup coverage is included. Size your hiring target to the bench you need, not the routes on the map.
Recruit at least nine weeks before you need someone. If training takes two months, a vacancy you notice in December is a route you may not cover until February. Put driver recruiting on the calendar ahead of the school year and ahead of predictable turnover.
Let people try the job before they apply. A hands-on event lowers the barrier for candidates who have never driven a bus and helps them decide quickly whether the role is for them.
Market the schedule to the people who want it. A split shift with the middle of the day free appeals to retirees and others who are done with the 40-hour week. Recruit where those people already are.
Lead with your safety training. Families and candidates pay close attention after a crash. A clear, thorough training program is a recruiting message and a reassurance to parents at the same time.
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Source & credit
This post summarizes and builds on "Indiana School District Hosts First 'Drive the Bus' Recruiting Event" by Merari Acevedo, published by School Transportation News on November 2, 2026. STN's report is based on coverage by FOX 59 in Indianapolis, "Westfield-Washington Schools holds first-ever Drive the Bus event to hire drivers." The route count, hiring target, nine-week training timeline, and the comments from Mike Reinhardt and Jeff Cross all come from their reporting; the recommendations above are our own. Thank you to Merari Acevedo and School Transportation News, and to FOX 59, for covering how districts are tackling the bus driver shortage.
