He says they tried to drop fewer routes at schools with historically lower attendance rates.Įvery route includes students from multiple schools. Some students and some schools were hit harder than others. In total, 754 routes were cut during the 2021-22 school year.
#Chicago school bus shortage drivers
New drivers driving routes with students they didn’t know on route streets they didn’t know, which caused extra delays.”Įven though Rockford hired more drivers and canceled fewer routes as the school year went on, the overall numbers are significant. “Because with all the changes and all the cancellations, he said, “there were new people on routes every day. Slife says last-minute call-offs and cancellations made life more confusing for the drivers who showed up. Last year, RPS canceled 126 routes beyond those they’d planned for.
This caused unplanned route cancellations ON TOP of the ones the district anticipated. Sometimes upwards of 40 drivers were out.
Slife said they had between 15 and 20 people call in sick every day.
It’s also still a pandemic and they had drivers get sick. Maintenance staff and administrators had to drive so they could keep their heads above water. Substitute drivers would take a few routes. In the meantime, every morning was hectic. They started offering $3,000 signing bonuses and weekly attendance incentives to recruit potential new drivers.
#Chicago school bus shortage driver
But the district poured resources into filling driver vacancies. Rockford didn’t have a reimbursement program for parents. Early on, that meant around 1,400 students would be left without a ride in a given week. In September alone, RPS canceled 226 bus routes. “We started off the school year with 12 cancellations, I believe, every day,” he said. That’s according to district transportation director Michael Slife.īut as the school year began, they didn’t have nearly enough drivers. Like many school districts, Rockford Public Schools had never canceled a bus route before last year. Carter said she didn’t hear about anything like that in Yorkville. They provided alternative transportation options or - as DeKalb did - even reimbursed parents for driving their kids to class if there were cancelations. Some school districts tried to ease the pressure on parents. Some, like Carter, were working, and many just didn’t have access to transportation to get their kids to school. It led to canceled bus routes and countless parents scrambling to find their kids a ride to school. Last year, districts across the country faced a shortage of school bus drivers. To prepare for next year, Carter’s already changed her work schedule so she can drive her daughter to school.Ĭarter’s situation was far from unique. And it kept up intermittently throughout the year. The Yorkville School District canceled her daughter’s route regularly at the beginning of the year. “Not through their fault but hey, maybe I was busy and I missed it, and here’s my kid walking back to the house and I’ve driven off already.” “Then there were those days where you didn’t necessarily get that notice,” she said. Now, she has to double back to her Yorkville home, pick up her daughter and take her to school herself. Her 14-year-old daughter’s school bus was canceled…again. YORKVILLE – Ten minutes down the road on her way to work, Joni Carter gets a message on her phone.
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