CALVERT COUNTY, Md. — School bus service continued to be disrupted around Calvert County on Wednesday as a sick-out by drivers showed no signs of stopping.
According to Calvert County Public Schools, just 29 of 134 county school buses ran on Wednesday morning and during the afternoon.
In a message to parents, Superintendent Daniel Curry said the sick-out may last at least another week. In the meantime, he said students in grades 3-12 would be able to access virtual classes if they cannot make it to school.
"As you are aware, some of our bus drivers have made a decision to not transport students to and from school," he wrote. "We realize this places a hardship on parents regarding student attendance. It also creates a hardship on co-curricular and extra-curricular activities."
Several bus drivers who spoke to WUSA9 on Wednesday said the sick-out comes from grievances going back years.
Juliet Butler, who has driven school buses in the county for over 20 years, said she and others are hoping for wage increases and more affordable benefits.
"They’ll give us something like an increase one way but then they’ll take it back or cut our hours," she said. "You expect the insurance to have a little increase in cost but it’s very expensive to maintain. Some can’t even afford to have it.”
Butler said some drivers make $18 an hour and work just under 29 hours a week.
Due to the strict bus schedules every school day, she said it was tough for drivers to get other jobs.
"You can’t survive on that as a household if you have kids and a husband. You can’t live off that," Butler said. "It’s not like you can go get a job in the middle of the day because you have to be back by a certain time to pick the kids up and transport them home. At night, you have to be prepared to drive in the morning."
Butler added that drivers have tried speaking to district leaders about the issues, only to allegedly get no answers.
The disruption to service has brought added challenges for parents trying to get their children to school.
To help, the district is offering mileage reimbursement to some mothers and fathers of children with special needs who require special transportation to get to school.
Casey Woody, whose three-year-old daughter has autism, can receive the reimbursement but criticized the plan's narrow scope.
"What about these parents that are single moms? Low-income families? Single fathers?" she asked. "They need compensation as well."
Woody said she supported the sick-out and said her young daughter cries every morning she can't take the bus.
"I’m a single mom and I have a one-year-old child so I have to drag my one-year-old out plus my three-year-old with autism and she throws a fit because she wants to ride the bus," Woody said. "I think (the drivers) deserve to be paid right. They’re safely taking our children to school.”
The length of the sick-out remained unknown as of Wednesday night.
Moving forward, Juliet Butler said she felt bad about the challenges for parents but hoped they could see the side of the bus drivers.
"We love our kids. If we didn’t have a love for our children we wouldn’t be driving for 20 or more years. We hate to put the parents in this kind of situation," she said. "We had to do this because that’s the only way they would even give us any kind of conversation.”