The need for more school bus drivers and a possible pay hike are still on the minds of Muscogee County School Board members.

The board has been discussing those issues for months and the talks continued Monday night.

The school year got off to a rocky start with students experiencing bus overcrowding and late drop-offs,
 which prompted several complaints to the district by parents. 

Board members are hoping a salary increase will help to retain and attract new drivers. District transportation director, Herbert Hill says there’s still a shortage of drivers. 

“Right now, according to our allotment, we’re about five drivers short of our current allotment. We still face some challenges, but we’ve been able to resolve a lot of the concerns. What seems to be our challenge now is buses overcrowding at the elementary and middle schools,” says Hill.

Hill says an estimated 3,000 more students relied on district transportation than during the previous school year, which resulted in overcrowding.

The school board is expected to vote on the proposed salary increase during next week’s board meeting.