Many New York school districts struggling with shortage of bus drivers
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the school year wraps up, many districts are still operating with a shortage of school bus drivers. Most are actively recruiting drivers.
The New York School Bus Contractors Association says a recent poll of its contractor members found a 20% driver shortage for home-to-school runs, field trips, athletics and charters.
“We are experiencing a driver shortage,” the Syracuse City School District said in a statement. “We are currently about 25 drivers short for home-to-school runs and about 15-20 drivers short for athletics. We have a number of ideas and plans in place to help improve the situation before the start of the new school year, a wage increase is at the top of the list.”
“There continues to be a national bus driver shortage,” Buffalo Public Schools said in a statement. “The district would benefit from having more drivers available, however, the implementation of a three-tier bell system has greatly improved coverage times and helped alleviate shortages by shortening the average length of time students are on buses, covering all bus routes, and using the full seven-hour instructional day to provide more equitable instruction and social engagement to all of our students.”
School bus drivers are such a vital part of the school day. Children rely on bus services to get to school. The lack of drivers and delayed routes can disrupt learning time. The Rochester City School District says the search for bus drivers has been frustrating. At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, The Rochester City School District said it did not have enough bus drivers and still doesn’t.
“We know we need to do better,” said Jacob Scott, chief of operations at RCSD.
Scott oversees food service, safety, security, facilities and transportation. He says it’s the bus driver shortage that keeps him up at night.
“Our bus drivers are working around the clock of course filing their routes and other routes. They are working long days. That can be very stressful and that doesn’t speak to the last-minute call-ins that we may get,” said Scott.
Scott says the district uses several bus companies to transport its 30,000 students to schools not only in Rochester but as far away as Rome and Batavia. Combine that with a lack of drivers and it’s a domino effect that the district admits leads to late busses and missed class time for some students.
Several parents say the district’s robocalls home are too little, too late, and they’re frustrated saying their kids are missing class time and that it is not OK. The district did not provide any specific data on how many buses were delayed this year or how late, but are working on how to prevent it by condensing routes and calling on other staff to help.
“Anyone who has their CDL who are mechanics or dispatchers, they go out on a daily basis just to assist,” Scott said. “I mean, it is important for students to get to school period, but to just even get to school on time. It is literally all hands on deck when it comes to transportation.”
Scott is hoping people start applying now, so they are trained and ready to go for the start of the next school year.
First Student, the largest passenger bussing company in North America, is contracted by the Rochester City School District and says it understands parent frustrations when there is a service delay. The company says it is actively recruiting and provides paid training with starting wages of $27 an hour and sign-on bonuses of up to $5,000.
If you are interested in becoming a school bus driver you’re encouraged to apply at a school district near you. If you’d like to apply to First Student bus company, head to workatfirst.com.
