Jen Bramson is the president of the Park City Classified Employee Association, a union that represents almost 100 school district employees.
She told the Park City Board of Education on Tuesday the district lost nearly half its bus drivers in the last eight years, the roster shrinking from 49 to 27.
“Every day, the entire staff in the office is driving. So there are times where there is no one in the office to answer those phone calls or take care of emergencies," Bramson said. "We are at a critical point. And if we lose anyone, it's going to be a problem.”
Bramson told the board there’s a good chance that drivers are going to depart.
“I've been trying to signal the siren here that they are about to all take other jobs with other districts," she said. "… I mean, these people already have job offers.”
Bramson’s warning came ahead of a presentation of next year’s tentative budget — timing Bramson said was not a coincidence.
The tentative budget includes an additional $150,000 for bus drivers. The district's Business Manager Todd Hauber said that would correspond to a roughly $5 hourly raise, from $19 per hour to $24.
The budget also includes $950,000 to double the residential housing and travel allowance given to district employees, which is currently $1,200 per employee per school year.
Bramson said the board is in the right range with the $5 raise and increase in the housing and travel allowance.
Andrew Caplan has served on the board since 2017. He said it seems like there are two groups that come up in every discussion about staffing the Park City School District: bus drivers and substitute teachers.
Caplan said the board was trying to aggressively address bus driver salaries and he'd like to see a similar effort for substitute teachers as well.
Shad Sorenson, the district’s human resource director, said the district’s substitute compensation is competitive with other school districts, but not with other jobs in the Park City area.
That’s a point Bramson echoed about other employees, including bus drivers.
“What's stopping them from going to Vail?" Bramson said "I mean, why should they stay with us at this point?”
The tentative budget includes $80,000 for a substitute teacher incentive program. Hauber said that could mean a financial bonus for teaching several days in a row or several days in a certain stretch of time.
The overall substitute budget, however, is shrinking, from $500,000 two years ago to $390,000 for next year. Superintendent Jill Gildea said that's more in line with historical numbers, which averaged around $360,000 before the pandemic.
Gildea asked if the board would be open to raising the amount of its anticipated $800,000 tax increase to pay for additional salary increases, or if the board would prefer to cut other proposed policies or positions.
Board members said they wanted more information about what a more aggressive substitute teacher strategy would cost.
The district’s fiscal year ends June 30. The next board meeting is scheduled June 17.
