WCPSS students likely will see longer bus times due to driver shortage

WCPSS: There are enough drivers for the 584 planned routes for this school year, but operations could still be affected.

Classes for the 2022-23 school year begin Monday, Aug. 29, and according to the presentation given at the WCPSS Aug. 16 work session, kids will be spending more time on the bus due to longer routes and "shared runs" is unavoidable.  

The presentation claims there is a strain on the resources they do have due to four new schools opening, additional capped schools in the routes, and the return of virtual academy students. There was no mention if there was added strain from riders attending magnet schools.

An update on the status of transportation from Bob Snidemiller, Senior Director for WCPSS' Transportation department calls for eliminating 76 routes to adjust for the driver shortage based on a projected staff total of 560 bus drivers and 55 full-time/permanent subs. Of those 76 routes, 52 are already gone.

Here is the overview of the data presented to the board:

“Overview” data included in the WCPSS Transportation presentation given to board members on Aug. 16, 2022

Snidemiller indicated the district has lost 169 bus drivers since 2019. His presentation also showed 106 drivers who have resigned since Aug. 2 of 2021 but only 64 new hires. He said there were 32 who applied to be new drivers but only expects a handful of them to complete the training and be hired.

In 2014, WCPSS employed over 900 bus drivers. That number has decreased each year since and as of mid-August, the district was short around 266 bus drivers.

Slide from the transportation update presented to WCPSS board members on Aug. 16, 2022.

He also told board members there are just enough drivers to cover all the routes and there are backups in case someone calls out, however, a typical day can see around 5% of drivers call out, sometimes more.

"But our bus drivers are human, like the rest of us they get sick and we may exceed the 5% buffer that we have on any given day," said Snidemiller. "Which unfortunately means we would have uncovered bus routes."

Pay has been raised by the WCPSS school board to try and attract more drivers, increasing from $16.20 to $17.20 an hour. Additional pay incentives include a signing bonus of $1,200 and an employee bonus of $1,250.

Information about the busing situation was sent out via email to all parents in the district following the Aug. 16 work session.

The update to parents about the decline in the number of bus drivers since 2014 says that the trend “was made worse by the labor shortage caused by the pandemic.”

“To put this in perspective, we had well over 900 available drivers in 2014; currently there are only 615 available drivers,” the update reads, and states that there are “enough drivers for the 584 planned routes for this school year, but operations could still be affected.”

The district says the driver shortage will have the following impacts on riders:

• More buses at or close to full capacity

• Somewhat longer travel times

• More buses that have to make two separate runs in the morning and/or the afternoon.

• Some students will need to arrive as early as 40 minutes before the school day begins.

• In the afternoon, some students may need to wait at school for their bus to make its first run before it can return to collect riders for its second run. (Schools will be prepared to accommodate students who need to arrive early or stay late.)

• Some buses may not be able to run at all on a given day if too many drivers are absent. Schools and parents will be notified as quickly as possible when that is the case

• As for what parents can do related to long bus rides and wait times, WCPSS offered the following suggestions:
  
  Make sure you review the bus route information for your student that will be shared with traditional calendar families later this week.

• Everyone is strongly encouraged to sign up for the Here Comes the Bus app, which allows you to track your student’s bus in real time. It helps to take the guesswork out of when the bus will arrive at your stop. Visit wcpss.net/herecomesthebus to learn more and download the app. It only takes a few minutes.

• You can also visit wcpss.net/busupdates and click on your child’s school. Any delays will be listed there.

• If you do not wish to use the bus service this year, please let us know at wcpss.net/declinebus.

More To The Story

On the teaching side, the district has indicated they have filled nearly 97 percent of its vacancies. As of mid-August, vacancies included 401 classroom teachers, 192 teaching assistants, and 99 child nutrition staff.

Those numbers are not particularly high given that WCPSS is the largest district in the state. For some context, in the 2021-22 school year WCPSS employed 10,985 teachers and a total number of 20,096 employees.