The Other School Staff Shortage. Teacher Posts Are Not The Only Ones Schools Are Having Trouble Filling
At Forbes. com, I note the other staffing shortage that has been making a mess out of schools (and how it’s handled a little differently from the other challenges in education these days).
Last week Louisville, Kentucky made national news with a school bussing disaster that resulted in stranded students and children arriving home, in some cases pee soaked and unfed and well after dark.
A variety of causes have been considered for the fiasco, including the computer program given the job of scheduling the bus routes for the Jefferson County Public School system. But according to many accounts, AlphaRoute was only involved because the district was trying to solve a larger underlying problem.
Last year, the district found it did not have enough bus drivers to cover the routes.
The issue is widespread. In Massachusetts, the Framingham school district just announced that of the 77 bus drivers it needs, it has 57. This year, some students will not get a free ride to school. In Arkansas, reports are that drivers are retiring faster than they’re being replaced. In Albemarle County, Virginia, frustrated parents are complaining that they have just days to figure out how their children will get to school and back. And it’s worth noting that all transit systems, not just school bus systems, have been feeling the personnel pinch.
Nor is the problem new. The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT), the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS), and the National School Transportation Association (NSTA) conducted a survey in 2021, and found trouble.
“As school districts across the country return to in-person learning and COVID continues to have an impact on education in general and school transportation scheduling and logistics in particular, the shortage of school bus drivers has become conspicuous”, said NAPT Executive Director Mike Martin. “But let’s be clear – this is not a new problem. Nor it is easy to solve.”
Hi Peter, thank you for covering this issue, esp how intractable the problem seems to be. For your awareness, I wanted to let you know about how GoKid (gokid.mobi) is helping to solve the bus-driver shortage, chronic absenteeism, and other transportation-related challenges schools face by bringing a technology solution to traditional family carpooling that we are licensing to individual schools and districts. Happy to have a conversation on background as you keep tabs on where this issue goes.
A problem not easily solved with the behavior on the bus!