Concord-Carlisle School Committees Authorize Bus Driver Pay Hikes and Hiring Bonuses

CARLISLE -- April 1, 2026, Concord-Carlisle School Committees voted unanimously to raise bus driver pay and add hiring bonuses to address a worsening driver shortage. Assistant Superintendent Bob Biscardi told the joint committee that Concord, once considered an employer of choice attracting 10 applicants per posting, now draws only a handful of candidates and has been forced to hire and train unlicensed drivers. The approved plan raises wages immediately by 2 percent, with that rate carrying forward contractually, and adds a $2,500 signing bonus for licensed drivers, paid in two installments over 12 months, and a $1,000 employee referral bonus; combined annual cost is $30,000 across both districts. The committee also completed a required re-vote of the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District's FY27 budget after the state certified the district's excess-and-deficiency fund at $1,772,572, or 4.38 percent of the FY26 budget, just below the 5 percent statutory cap. A lengthy working session on a draft community survey about high school cell phone policy produced agreement to assign member Brian Rankin to rework problematic question language and member Sandeep Bishardi to handle technical formatting, with a target of distributing the survey after April vacation and keeping it open for two weeks; the district currently has no formal school committee cell phone policy for the high school.