Ng says her daughter's special education bus did arrive on time Tuesday morning, right before 7:30 a.m., but there were other issues. The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), and the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) recently conducted a joint survey of America’s shortage of school bus drivers. Her daughter, who started kindergarten on Tuesday, has Down syndrome and receives transportation accommodations through her individualized educational plan. Some parents learned about the first-day-of-school delays Monday evening, when the district's transportation department sent out a notification with a list of 53 bus routes expected to run at least one hour late.īut, in some cases, even those who had their student’s bus show up on time still had to take first day of school transportation into their own hands.īao Ng is a mother of three SPS students. Drivers also didn't have the week between practice "dry runs" and the start of school to make adjustments for time or stops. An unlikely pairing that became best friends is what happened to a bus driver for Berkeley County School District known as Mr. In the meantime, districts are asking parents for their patience as they work with bus companies to figure out these shortages.In an email to KUOW, district spokesperson Tim Robinson said First Student is "at (or near) full staffing for drivers" and is still hiring substitute drivers, and according to a First Student administrator, city construction also contributed to delays. 1, now faces an acute shortage of bus driversit’s down 86 drivers out of a total of about 330. 'EastSide wants to pay you 700 for the year for dropping off and picking up. "If you’re on the school board or if you’re an administrator and I’m pushing your buttons right now, good, I hope I’m pushing your buttons because you need to come to the table," Kelly Gibbons, the executive director of SEIU Local 284, said. PORTLAND SCHOOLS FACE BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE: Portland Public Schools, which reopened Sept. The problem has prompted one school to offer 700 to parents who agree to drive their children to school for the year. Minneapolis Public Schools said it’s used cabs in previous years but not for "standard to-and-from transportation for general ed purposes until this year with the driver shortage." "What kind of career can somebody go into where they’re only working 9 months a year and then they’re laid off and then they can’t collect unemployment insurance?" he asked.įroemke said he’s also concerned with how many cab drivers are taking kids to school this year. "This is not a bus driver shortage, this is a bus driver crisis," Gus Froemke, of Teamsters Local 320, said. New drivers with additional credentials can earn up to 3,000. The bus driver wasn’t aware the girl had been. New drivers with experience and a commercial driver’s license (CDL) can earn up to 2,250. In addition to an increase in hourly wage, drivers want a change in state law that would allow them to collect unemployment when they’re laid off over the summer. The family of a Chief Joseph Middle School student hit by a truck last year after she was dropped off at a bus stop is suing the Richland School District. An 11-year-old Richland, WA student in in a Spokane hospital after hit by pickup truck getting off school bus on Friday near Spengler Street. ![]() "We should be valued full-time employees with a livable wage," Jakubowski said. In a new nationwide survey, half of student-transportation coordinators described school bus driver shortages as either 'severe' or 'desperate.' © Allard Schager/Getty Images So far this. She says the lack of financial stability is pushing drivers away. Richland County schools deal with school bus shortage Mount Vernon Police Officer injured during investigation Remembering Joseph 'Joey' Mathew Thomas Jr. The pandemic accelerated it and now the public is painfully aware of it." Teresa Jakubowski, a bus driver, said, "This driver shortage problem has been steadily growing over the years. The union says pandemic concerns paired with low pay and exclusion from unemployment insurance have made it challenging to recruit and retain drivers.Ĭompanies are now offering hefty signing bonuses and, in some cases, flying people in from other states to get them trained and licensed to be Minnesota bus drivers. Richland, WA School District and bus driver are sued after a Chief Joseph Middle School student was hit by a pickup truck near bus stop last year.
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