Mokena School Board Approves Pacts with Unions to Address Bus Driver Shortage

Mokena School District 159 Board of Education Meeting | October 15, 2025

Article Summary: Mokena School District 159 will offer paid CDL training and stipends to teachers and staff who volunteer to drive school buses, following the Board of Education’s approval of new agreements with its employee unions. The move aims to alleviate persistent bus driver shortages that have impacted student activities but drew criticism from one board member over the additional expense.

Union Agreements Key Points:

• The Board of Education approved Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Mokena Teachers’ Association (MTA) and the Mokena Classified Staff Association (MCSA).

• The agreements provide paid training for employees to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) to drive school buses.

• Employees who drive for daily routes or extracurricular activities will receive an hourly rate of $25.50 for the 2025-2026 school year.

• The board also approved a pay adjustment for building aides who substitute as higher-paid paraprofessionals to address internal staffing gaps.

MOKENA, IL — The Mokena School District 159 Board of Education on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, approved new agreements with its teacher and classified staff unions to combat an ongoing bus driver shortage by training and paying existing employees to get behind the wheel.

The board approved three separate Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs). The first two, with the Mokena Teachers’ Association (MTA) and the Mokena Classified Staff Association (MCSA), establish a program offering paid training for employees who volunteer to earn a passenger Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Once licensed, these employees will be eligible to drive buses for daily routes or extracurricular activities at a starting hourly rate of $25.50.

The initiative was presented as a creative solution to a driver shortage that has forced parents to provide transportation for many after-school athletic events this fall.

“This was brought to us as a suggestion so the teachers and coaches can help serve the students, help get people around at a time when we desperately, desperately need people,” said Board President Jim Andresen. “I think this is a nice idea.”

Board member Eric Bush noted that this is a common practice in other districts, citing nearby Lincoln-Way High School District 210. “Anyone that has a student at Lincoln-Way realizes that there are several coaches that drive the buses for their students,” Bush said. “No way Lincoln-Way would be able to provide the sport activities that they provide without coaches driving buses.”

However, Board member Kelli MacMillan voted against both CDL-related MOUs, citing the district’s budget deficit and the additional cost of training. “We just cannot continue to throw more and more money at transportation without talking about cost savings,” MacMillan argued. “This memorandum of understanding includes paid training to get teachers the credential to be able to drive the bus. So that is where the extra spend is. Make no mistake.”

The third MOU, also with the MCSA, addresses internal staffing shortages by adjusting the pay for building aides, administrative assistants, and other staff who substitute in the role of a higher-paid paraprofessional. Under the agreement, these employees will receive an additional amount equal to the difference between their base pay and the starting hourly rate for a paraprofessional.

MacMillan also opposed this measure, raising concerns about creating new staffing gaps. “If the building aide serves as a paraprofessional then you don’t have a building aid to do the work of a building aid,” she said. “You’re shifting deck chairs here. You’re solving one problem when creating another one.”

The MOU for MTA CDL licensure passed 6-1, the MCSA CDL licensure MOU passed 6-1, and the MCSA substitute pay MOU passed 5-2, with MacMillan voting no on all three and Julie Oost joining her in opposition to the final measure.