Board debates short-term solutions for bus-driver shortage and PCA staffing; administration proposes limited targeted-ad pilot

The Unionville‑Chadds Ford School District discussed staffing solutions for personal care assistants (PCAs) and persistent bus‑driver shortages during the June 10 work session.

Administration presented four vendor contracts to expand the pool of PCAs and substitute nurses (Avianna/DeNovi, CritiCare, GHR Education) and said the district has been more successful when it draws from multiple vendors. They also reported two outsourcing proposals for nonpublic bus runs were not financially viable for the district at this time.

To address driver shortages (administration estimated between 8 and 12 open commercial‑driver‑license positions), administration recommended a two‑month targeted social‑media advertising pilot to recruit drivers. "This contract under consideration is a 2 month experiment to see if this can provide opportunities to people who might be interested and see if we can expand the pool of potential candidates to become drivers," said the presenter.

Board members debated the merits of the pilot. Supporters described it as a modest, low‑risk experiment that had produced results in at least one other Pennsylvania district; skeptical members asked for demographic and testimonial evidence and raised concerns about spending limited funds without a stronger evidence base.

No contract vote was taken at the work session; administration proposed removing the nonpublic-run RFPs from next week's contract votes and including the targeted advertising contract for board consideration at the June 17 meeting, accompanied by additional information.

Next steps: Administration to provide additional cost/impact data and testimonials from other districts as part of the packet for the June 17 meeting; the board will decide whether to approve the targeted-ad pilot and the PCA contracts during next week's meeting.