AUBURN — After pulling up to Fairview Elementary School in her No. 10 big yellow school bus Friday, Claire Cheche greeted students with a smile.

Driving a bus is “an adventure,” she said. “You get to meet a lot of kids, a lot of different personalities. It’s a fun job.”

Not enough share her view.

In a tough economy where there’s a shortage of jobs, several school departments can’t find enough bus drivers.

Lewiston, Auburn and Gray-New Gloucester are looking for drivers. Lewiston and Auburn are advertising. A sign outside Hudson Bus Lines, which buses Lewiston students, reads: “Bus drivers needed. Call 783-2033.”

Auburn recently hired one driver, “but we’re still missing two,” School Department Business Manager Jude Cyr said.

Reasons for the driver shortage are the hours, work and pay.

“It’s not a 40-hour week. It’s not consistent hours,” Cyr said. “You do a bus run in the morning. There’s a break in between, then a run in the afternoon. That’s not enticing.”

The pay in Auburn starts at $13.07 and can go to $14.34 for 20 hours a week, 175 days a year. Auburn provides health insurance for the driver, Cyr said.

The pay in Lewiston is $12 an hour for 20 hours a week, 175 days a year.

“They were getting $11.35 an hour,” Lewiston School Department Transportation Director Butch Pratt said. “They increased it to $12 to get more people. We’re trying to draw retired folks or people looking for extra money.”

To drive a school bus a special license is needed. Training is also needed. Hudson Bus, a private company utilized by Lewiston schools, offers the training, Pratt said.

Auburn also offers training, a school bus to take the road test on, and mechanic Wayne Strout to help train potential drivers, Cyr said.

Sometimes a driver is trained at Auburn’s expense and the driver goes elsewhere, Cyr said, adding the shortage is everywhere.

“It’s a tough job,” Pratt said. Bus drivers are asked to obey all traffic laws and keep an eye on students. “If somebody screams in back of them, they’re looking in the mirror while watching for the other guy running a stop sign.”

A driver is alone on the bus with 60-plus students, more than a teacher would have in a classroom, Pratt said.

To help prevent bad student behavior, buses are equipped with video cameras. “That helps,” Pratt said. “We can see a lot that the driver can’t see.”

Bus drivers have to be skilled drivers “and be patient,” Cyr said. “You have to like kids. It’s a lot of responsibility.”

Claire Cheche has been a bus driver since 1977, and has driven for Auburn since 1995. She agreed the job is a lot of responsibility. Anything can come up with students, she said. “You have to be a nurse, psychiatrist, bus driver. You just kind of go with it all.”

But she said the job has benefits.

One is working with children. She enjoys driving them.

Yes, the hours are split, she said. “But where can you go these days where you get nights and weekends off? I would recommend this to everybody.”

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