Appoquinimink School District in Delaware buys its own fleet of buses, hires drivers

ODESSA, Delaware (WPVI) -- A school district in Delaware is going the extra mile to ensure transportation for its students this upcoming school year.

That comes in the form of almost two dozen new school buses and operators to drive them.

"I can confidentially say we are prepared," said Tom Poehlmann, the director of safety, security and operations for the Appoquinimink School District. "I think we've learned a lot over the pandemic."

The last two years brought into focus a national bus driver shortage, including in Delaware.

The Appoquinimink School District purchased 19 of their own school buses, and hired 22 drivers, after approval from the school board in May.

This is the first time the district will have its own fleet.

The district used to rely solely on contractors to transport students to and from school.

"Our contractors have struggled with a number of reasons to keep up with our growth. Certainly affected by the pandemic, and some of the fears of COVID, and we relied on drivers of retirement age that didn't come back," said Poehlmann.

The district says they also lost drivers to other higher paying jobs.

To stay competitive it added higher hourly wages and benefits to attract more drivers for the upcoming school year.

Students return to the classroom between September 6 and September 8.