SABATTUS — The school district serving Wales, Litchfield and Sabattus has been wrestling with a shortage of bus drivers since the COVID-19 pandemic and has never fully recovered. The situation was so grave that in September 2021, then-Superintendent Andrew Carlton considered shutting down the schools and going fully remote, but decided against the move.

Parents stepped in to drive their kids and often others to and from school while staffing remained a problem for months, if not the entire school year.

Since then, parents and students have endured last-minute cancellations of bus routes, consolidation of routes and other inconveniences that have spilled into the district’s annual budget discussions for two years now. Regional School Unit 4 raised the pay scale for bus drivers in November 2023 as an incentive to recruit and retain drivers.

Marg Levesque and Matt Bramlett gave up their careers to become bus drivers for Regional School Unit 4 after driver shortages disrupted transportation for all students. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

“I got sick of getting the phone calls every day saying that my bus was down,” Matt Bramlett said. “I had to be to work at 7 a.m. and I couldn’t leave for work because my daughter didn’t go to school till 8:30 a.m.”

The single father of two has worked as a master well-driller for his family’s business — Sunco Pump and Well Drilling in Sabattus. He set his career aside to become a full-time flex driver for the district. In a district that has 10 color-coded bus runs, his kids ride the black bus run, which was particularly hard hit by a lack of drivers last year.

Marg Levesque was born and raised in Litchfield and has worked in nursing for 24 years. She calls herself a full-time grandmother, helping her son raise two boys, ages 11 and 6. She, too, was frustrated by the constant lack of bus drivers for the black run.

She remembers sitting at Oak Hill Middle School in Sabattus, waiting for her grandsons one day. “It was like forever,” she said. “And I thought, this is ridiculous. I was like, you know, this is just crazy. And I thought instead of really complaining about the problem, what can I do to help resolve the problem?”

So, she decided to apply for a bus driver position. “I was contemplating making a change anyway, and I thought, why not?”

Levesque said 24 years of working on her feet all day has taken a toll and she was having difficulty walking.

Bramlett was also thinking about a change, because like Levesque, 14 hours of well drilling a day was taking a toll on him physically.

“That was the main thing was me being home for my kids more,” Bramlett emphasized. “Now I’m home at 4 p.m. making dinner, getting the kids ready,” he added.

Marg Levesque and Matt Bramlett each take care of two young children who attend Regional School Unit 4 schools. They got frustrated by the lack of bus drivers and decided to became part of the solution by becoming drivers. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Levesque and Bramlett applied in December 2023 to become drivers. They had to take an online course to obtain a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.

District Transportation Director Sheena Jordan explained the process. “How it works is after they take their online theory course … they can submit for their written permit test in the meantime.” Applicants must study the CDL manual. Passing the written test provides a learner’s permit.

“At that point you can be behind the wheel — but no students and (with) a driver that has had their CDL license for two years and no infractions,” Jordan added.

After mastering a list of skills, applicants take a test with the Maine Department of Transportation. The whole process takes two to three months.

“I was on the bus the same day I got my license — that afternoon,” Levesque said with a smile. She landed a spot as a full-time driver on the black run, while Bramlett is a flex driver, meaning he can be driving any of the routes to fill in as needed.

As an added bonus, Bramlett’s children usually get to ride his bus.

For Levesque, her oldest grandson gets home before she does, but she gets to drive her younger grandson home every day.

“We have supper together and I now get my weekends off so we can do family activities … I haven’t had a weekend off in over 12 years,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having school week vacations off now. I don’t have to worry about who’s going to watch the kids or, you know, not have all those other problems.”

Jordan said most of the drivers start at 6 a.m. and finish around 8:45 a.m. They are back on the road by 1:45 p.m. and most of them are done by 4:15 in the afternoon. Most drivers have a second job — Marg Levesque still works as a per diem nurse when they need her or she needs some extra money.

Bramlett is a mechanic with a state inspection license, which he said keeps him pretty busy, in addition to doing mechanical repairs for the family business.

The two are neighbors in Litchfield, but didn’t know that until they started working together.

The feedback from parents has been positive.

“They love it,” Bramlett said. “I get a thank you quite frequently from parents when I go pick up their kids,” Levesque added. “Like thank you so much for being here, and they feel really at ease knowing that they get a regular driver now. You know the stability is so much better.”

Both Levesque and Bramlett took a significant pay cut to become bus drivers but are quick to say it was worth it, especially for the benefits, which they called “amazing.” As with any job, there’s a best part and worst part.

“I’m probably going to have to say getting up at 4:30 in the morning. It’s not my favorite thing,” Levesque admitted.

“I’m not a morning person either,” Bramlett confessed, “but I would say that the worst part is having to discipline.”

“The best part about my job, would have to be the kids,” Bramlett said without hesitation. “There’s just so many of them. You never know what they’re going to say … there’s just the stuff that comes out of their mouths.”

“I think stability in all the kids’ lives is really important,” Levesque offered. “That they know who’s going to be there for them, you know. And that really gives me a lot of satisfaction. And I’m not hurting my body anymore. I’m able to sit down and enjoy my job.”

Like a parable, there’s a message here for the parents in this story. “There are some grateful (parents) and I appreciate that the ones that are complaining, you know, I just wish that they would be as patient as we’re trying to be patient … it takes a whole team to make it all work.”

“If you’re sick of complaining about something all the time, do something about it,” Bramlett said. “That’s basically what it boils down to. We did. Be part of the solution.”