In the middle of trying to stay ahead of an ever-shifting COVID landscape, the Marysville School District is now facing a battle on another front – a “critical” shortage of bus drivers.
A communication sent to families Tuesday asked parents to find alternate ways to get children to school beyond district transportation, if possible.
“Despite our aggressive recruitment efforts over the last several months, we continue to face a bus driver labor shortage,” the message reads. “All across the country, schools are facing a serious bus driver labor shortage, and we are feeling it right here in Marysville.”
The message asked parents to drive children to school or have them walk, if possible. The district also encouraged parents to form carpools for transporting students and guided parents to the “ride share” tab under the “return to school” section of the district website.
The message to parents indicated that bus routes have already been adjusted, creating delays, and notes that the shortage in drivers is likely to continue.
“We are now at a point where we may have to make another round of changes to our bus schedules and operations, and we want to make sure our families are prepared,” the correspondence reads. “We have reached a critical capacity level with staffing and despite our efforts to hire additional staff, we have been unsuccessful.”
Despite starting pay of $20 per hour for full-time drivers and $16 an hour for substitutes, the district currently has six fewer bus drivers on the road than in a traditional year. The message indicates that the shortage has nothing to do with COVID.
The letter states that the transportation department has a Twitter feed that can keep parents up to date on bus routes that are running late. Over the past week that Twitter feed listed five routes running behind, anywhere from 7-30 minutes.
“Currently, we are experiencing late buses on a regular basis,” the message reads. “Please understand this does not adversely impact your student’s absences, and we fully understand it is less than ideal.”
The message also asks anyone interested in becoming a bus driver to visit the district website. No experience is neccessary and the district provides Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training. The correspondence touts the job’s flexible schedule, medical benefits, retirement plan and free summers.
“We truly want to maintain our current level of service; however, it is becoming extremely difficult to do so with our staff level,” the message reads. “We appreciate any help or support families can offer.”
The bus driver shortage isn’t an issue that is unique to the Marysville District.
An Associated Press story from Aug. 22 noted that 80% of districts responding to a survey said they are experiencing a driver shortage. While a diminishing number of bus drivers has been an issue for many years, issues surrounding the pandemic have exacerbated the problem.
According to the AP story, more than half of the nation’s school bus drivers are over 65 and fear being more vulnerable to the virus. Others simply will not take part in a federal mandate that masks be worn on buses.
Economic impacts are also factoring into the bus driver shortage. The CDL required of school bus drivers can often be used more lucratively in other jobs that don’t require splitting the day for pickup and drop-off. Commercial drivers are in demand during the pandemic, due to a surge in online shopping.
To find solutions, some districts across the country are turning to creative measures. A district in Montana is offering $4,000 bonuses for bus drivers and a Delaware school district is offering parents $700 to drive their own children to school.