Like many school districts across the country, our district has faced significant transportation challenges due to a shortage of bus drivers. Reliable transportation is essential for student safety and academic success, and we are committed to working together to find innovative solutions.
Currently, the district employs 69 bus drivers to cover 71 daily school day routes with additional late bus runs and athletic trips. Our district covers 112 square miles with the average bus route scheduled for 60 minutes. When a driver calls out and is not available to work, we often have our mechanics and Transportation Directors, who are licensed to drive a bus, fill in to cover. There are days when all our staff is out driving, and routes need to be cancelled or delayed. Despite ongoing recruitment efforts, we have not successfully brought in the number of drivers our district needs. This is a challenge that many school districts are facing and we are exploring all possible options to help support our transportation department and improve the reliability of bussing for our families.
In July, the district partnered with On the Bus Transportation Planning Service to conduct a comprehensive review of our current transportation system, including a review of all existing bus routes, student ridership, analysis of staffing, opportunities for improved efficiencies, and exploring alternative options of how to best meet the needs of our school community.
At the December 12th Board of Education meeting, On the Bus presented their findings and recommendations of the Transportation Efficiency Study. Click here to view the presentation.
The district is carefully reviewing these findings and recommendations and will be engaging all our district stakeholders over the next several months to gather feedback as we explore all possible options that can help resolve our transportation challenges.