HISD students left in the cold by bus driver pay dispute

Hundreds of Houston ISD students had heir school bus service interrupted Thursday morning after numerous bus drivers refused to drive their routes over a pay dispute.

The Houston Independent School District had substitute drivers on hand but still was unable to staff about 40 routes, said chief of staff Jason Spencer. The staffing shortage forced some drivers to cover double routes, which meant students were left waiting in sub-freezing weather and arrived late for school.

Buses for about a dozen routes, out of nearly 1,000, arrived more than 15 minutes late, according to Spencer.

"I don't support stuff like that. They want to rally, they rally after dropping kids off at school," said Wretha Thomas, president of the Houston Education Support Personnel union.

The district's largest bus driver union did not participate in the boycott.

Hundreds of bus drivers had filed a grievance with HISD, complaining that they were not paid last year when the district closed for two days due to inclement weather. Some of those drivers, more than 150, skipped work Thursday morning and showed up at HISD headquarters.

The drivers were supposed to have a hearing before the school board, but the district canceled it late Wednesday because administrators feared a driver shortage, Spencer said. He said the district contacted drivers after 10 p.m. Wednesday about the cancellation.

Bus drivers do not get paid for missed days due to the weather because the drivers are hourly employees and not on contract.

"It's wrong," said Carolyn Harrison, a 17-year driver for HISD. "We are professional drivers, and that's how we expect to be treated."

HISD's Spencer noted that the district made up the two bad weather days, so the drivers who worked those days were paid.

"We can't pay people for time they didn't work; that's making a gift of taxpayer funds," Spencer said.

HISD pays drivers about $15 an hour for a five-hour daily minimum route.

Cecelia Edwards, who is organizing the bus drivers with the People's Choice Association, said she wanted the district to compromise on partial payment and commit to a written plan for handling missed days in the future.