![]() 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. Districts can use funding for bus recruitment activities, sign-on bonuses, and stipends to parents who transport their children.And 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. The Illinois State Board of Education has sent guidance to districts on how to spend federal emergency funds to deal with the bus driver shortage. “When I say every minute counts and every moment matters with transporting students,” said Hansen, “it truly does.” Hansen said that wondering if the school buses will run on time keeps her up at night. All Illinois districts are responsible for providing bus service to therapeutic day schools and picking and dropping students at their home address instead of a bus stop. The district has to create bus routes and stops for six suburbs where students live - Broadview, Maywood, Bellwood, Hillside, Melrose Park, and Stone Park. Already, the school district has seenĪnother concern for suburban school districts is meeting transportation requirements for students with Individualized Education Programs. In Illinois, some districts are required to provide free transportation to all students others must offer service to students who live more than one-and-a-half miles away from their school.īellwood has seen bus routes running behind schedule, according to Victoria Hansen, the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Schools are mandated to provide transportation to students in foster care, those facing homelessness, and students with disabilities. ![]() Transportation has always been a complex issue for Illinois districts, but the pandemic has made it worse. In the west suburbs of Chicago, Bellwood School District 88, which serves about 2,300 students, has given some parents gas cards, while mechanics employed by the district have also stepped up to drive bus routes. Granite County School District 9 is down 32 bus drivers, with many drivers calling out sick. ![]() McLean County Unit 5 is looking for substitute drivers. In central and southern Illinois, districts have flagged the need to fill permanent bus driver positions and substitutes.īloomington District 87 has 12 vacant bus driver positions. Some school bus driver companies that work under contract with Chicago are offering sign-up bonuses of as much as $3,000. The district plans to give $1,000 to families to cover the first two weeks of school and the mayor said she reached out to Uber and Lyft for help. On the first day of school in Chicago, that district was left scrambling to find transportation for almost 2,100 students because 10% of bus drivers resigned. The shortages have already impacted thousands of students in schools around the state. Vaccine mandates may also be impacting demand, she said. Some bus drivers burned out after an increase in summer routes due to summer school. In Illinois, a wave of early retirements and resignations contributed to the shortage, Lapa said. ![]() Illinois districts, in the midst of reopening schools after in-person learning had been suspended for over 18 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, are now also facing a bus driver shortage that has hit districts across the countryĪccording to a national survey by the National Association for Pupil Transportation and two other school transportation organizations, half of the almost 1,500 school transportation coordinators surveyed described their driver shortage as “severe” or “desperate.” About 78% said the shortage is getting “much worse” or “a little worse”Ī number of factors have contributed to the shortage, the survey found, including route changes because of COVID-19, a lengthy hiring process, and the rate of pay for drivers. ![]()
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