![]() ![]() ACPS has about 90% of our drivers available and 100% of bus monitor positions filled,” according to a statement from ACPS Director of Pupil Transportation and Fleet Management E. “ACPS recognizes there is a national shortage of school bus drivers, making it challenging to recruit and fill bus driver positions. The bus driver shortage is affecting Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), as well, but not nearly as radically as other school districts. Another school district has delayed starting the school year while officials figure out what to do. In at least one area, the shortage of bus drivers has led a charter school to offer parents a stipend to pick up and drop off their children instead of taking the bus, The Washington Post reported. We say they bleed yellow.A shortage of school bus drivers nationwide is forcing school districts to take unique measures to ensure students get to and from school safely this year. "There's a segment that just love doing what they do. In the meantime, Macysyn says, schools and private school-bus contractors will continue to try to recruit drivers who are civic minded and appreciate the part-time hours and spending time with children. Macysyn says that while measures such as distancing and opening windows seem to be pretty effective, "we certainly understand if folks have those concerns," especially if they have risk factors.Ĭhicago's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, is reportedly talking to ride-share companies like Lyft or Uber, or even paying parents to drive their own children to school. School buses are full of children, and children under 12 can't yet be vaccinated against COVID-19. ![]() A second factor in the shortage, Macysyn pointed out, is that in many places over the past year and a half, departments of motor vehicles were closed or had limited operations, so people couldn't get their road tests or update their qualifications.Ī third concern cited was safety. ( reports the median school bus driver earns $35,421 per year, which varies by region.)īrand-new bus drivers can't be hired on the spot like retail or fast-food workers they need commercial driver's licenses. Respondents to the survey were most likely to say that the pay they were able to offer was a major factor affecting their ability to recruit drivers. Many drivers were furloughed during the COVID-19 school closures in 2020, while others took the chance to retire. He says there are many reasons for the shortage. "In previous years, we've seen regionalized driver shortages, but nothing to the extent that we're seeing today." "This back-to-school period is nothing like the previous periods we've seen," he told NPR. The move left some 2,100 students, a little less than half of them in special education, without a way to get to school.Īnd in Pittsburgh, the public schools notified families that they are short almost 650 bus seats for the first day of school on Friday.Ĭurt Macysyn is executive director of the National School Transportation Association, which conducted the survey with two other trade associations. In Chicago this week, 70 bus drivers, about 10% of the workforce, abruptly quit over the district's new COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to WBEZ's Sarah Karp. ![]() ![]() In a new nationwide survey, half of student-transportation coordinators described their school bus driver shortages as either "severe" or "desperate." Now, in many places, there is a last-mile problem - quite literally. So far this fall, children heading back to school have faced many obstacles: battles over masks, vaccines, delta-variant surge fears and mental health needs. In a new nationwide survey, half of student-transportation coordinators described school bus driver shortages as either "severe" or "desperate." ![]()
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