Philly schools will pay $300 a month to parents who drive their kids to school

The School District of Philadelphia will pay parents to drive their kids to school.

It’s called the “Parent Flat Rate Program.”

Under the program guidelines, families will receive $300 a month per household to transport their own child(ren) to and from school daily.

According to the school district, approximately 101,000 students use transportation to get to school.

55,000 use SEPTA fare cards, 33,000 use the yellow buses or other school vehicles; and the remaining 13,000 are enrolled in the flat rate program.

The district currently employs 210 bus drivers, which is down from 227 last year.

To combat the shortages, the district has incentivized the job hoping to get more applicants to fill the 105 bus driver vacancies.

The hope is that the program will reduce the number of students who need buses.

Starting salaries begin at $23,400 for part-time drivers, and $44,880 for full-time.

The district will also offer drivers Commercial Driver’s License training through a pipeline program which can take up to 45 days. Trainees could earn $18,720.

The district hopes the program, which they first piloted in 2020, will help offset the number of driver shortages.

Families must enroll in the Parent Flat Rate Program and submit a monthly form requesting service.

Open enrollment is underway until September 30.

The application can be viewed online.