![]() ![]() Like pretty much every other type of blue collar work. The demand for such skills and the pay and benefits in the private sector are very high and growing because of a labor shortage in the face of increasing demand. The training required makes them professional drivers. But that is where many districts are.ĭriving a school bus is a difficult, nerve wracking and hazardous job. I expect that the interlocking administration and logistics of car pools and buses to T-bone one another because of the late start and lack of preparation for the car pool option at scale. Parents have already made plans and notified school districts if their children will be bus riders. 12, Fairfax County Public Schools was short 190 drivers. Also, we ask that you update your transportation status through your school, if you choose to not have your child take the bus.” “If you can walk with or drive your child (and perhaps a neighbor’s), please do. We say they bleed yellow.A Fairfax County Public Schools Twitter message August 19: ![]() "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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