T
he start of every school year has its challeng- es. That’s a given. But while some fade quickly as students, families and drivers settle into a routine, others require special attention. Many
start-up situations demand the best efforts of trans- portation leaders.
Coping with Driver Shortages ”The beginning of the year is very challenging,”
said Albert Samora, executive director of transporta- tion services for Denver Public Schools in Colorado. “As transportation leaders, we are constantly faced with staffing, economic and academic needs,” he said. In his current position, he has been short by as
many as 100 school bus drivers. Currently, Denver has about 30 fewer drivers than what is optimum. And Samora said he has found that at school startup bad timing can be as problematic as the numbers them- selves might indicate. “One week before school started, the district
lost four drivers through retirement or resignation,” he shared “That was a hard hit to take right at the be- ginning of school without much time to plan.” In response, Samora and his team hustled to fill
gaps and were able to get the year started without major impacts on families. On a more long-range basis, transportation has been deliberate with ag- gressive pay proposals for staff and invested in a third-party company to assist in recruitment. From an operations perspective, having enough
personnel to do the job is the most difficult step in pre- paring for an upcoming school year, said Wil Williams, director of transportation for Lexington-Richland School District Five in Irmo, South Carolina. “It’s always best to have contingencies for shortages
of drivers, because it will happen,” he noted. The fact is, he added, most summer vacations are
only eight to 10 weeks, so it’s important to stay con- sistent with what worked for staffing prior to summer break. At Kettering City Schools in Ohio, replacing retirees was the main difficulty faced this year, noted Transpor- tation Supervisor Todd Silverthorn “At the end of the school year and over the summer,
we had several retirements, making it a real challenge to cover all our routes,” Silverthorn said. “We quickly reviewed our services and brought in contracted van providers, which freed up a small pool of substitute driv- ers to cover absences where they were needed most.” The department also stepped-up recruitment by ex-
ploring creative ways to attract new applicants, with positive results to date, he added.
The situation has been less problematic at Foun-
tain-Fort Carson School District 8 in Colorado, which has so far avoided driver shortages this year. But that wasn’t accomplished without special measures. The district included a successful recruiting plan and internal hiring during the summer, which maintained staffing levels above the minimum required to oper- ate a full-route schedule when school started. “This positively impacted our ability to cover all
daily runs without delays or consolidations, which could have disrupted service for thousands of stu- dents,” said Darryl Dotson, Jr., assistant director of transportation. Staff also developed a multi-layered contingen- cy plan based on restructuring routes to maximize efficiency and combining low-ridership runs, where possible, without exceeding safe capacity limits. In addition, staff with CDL credentials, including Dot- son, were assigned to cover driving shifts during peak hours. At the same time, recruitment efforts were accelerated through targeted community outreach, partnerships with local military communities and a fast-track onboarding process. To avoid adding to problems related to driver
shortages, early outreach and reminders encouraged many parents to register well ahead of the deadline, which gave staff more time to plan routes efficient- ly and reduce last-minute changes. “We also found that providing online registration options improved convenience for families and enabled us to process requests more efficiently,” Dotson noted. Even with careful planning, some problems still surfaced. “A number of parents still waited until the very last minute to register or registered after the school year had already begun,” Dotson said, with the re- sults being unexpected route adjustments, capacity concerns and additional strain on the routing team during the busiest time of year. “While we were able to accommodate most late registrants, it highlighted the ongoing need for clear communication and firm deadlines to maintain operational stability.”
Supporting Under-Prepared Drivers Like other districts, North Clackamas School District
in Milwaukie, Oregon finds replacing school bus driv- ers to be an ongoing challenge. When enough drivers are available, a lack of preparation on their part can still cause problems. Fortunately, solid driver prep before the beginning
of classes has helped address that situation, said Transportation Director Kathy Calkins.
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