School districts facing familiar problem ahead of new year

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Tri-State school districts are preparing for another year and that comes with a familiar issue: transportation.

Cincinnati Public Schools, Franklin City School District and the Boone County School District are among those heading into the new school year facing the common problem.

CPS has dealt with past issues like students waiting at stops for buses that show up later or don’t even show up at all.

CPS held a virtual town hall Wednesday to address some of the changes they made to improve reliability.

• Staggering school times so buses can be used to service more than one school.
• Starting a call center that will now be staffed by CPS employees rather than contractors.

Over at Franklin City School District, they are dealing with a shortage of bus drivers.

Superintendent Doctor Mike Sander says they have all 22 routes covered but no substitutes if needed.

“It’s so important for us to get our kids to school,” explains Sander. “Really, the attitude of everyone here is we just do what it takes to get the kids here.”

Last year, that even meant Superintendent Sander climbing into the driver’s seat and running some routes.

Franklin is among those now offering cash incentives and paid CDL training to entice people to apply.

Even those offers might not be enough, Sander says.

“People can get trained and go make better money working for FedEx or UPS or whatever,” explains Sander. “And I think a big attraction that they have is that it’s eight hours a day, it’s year-round, but the other part is packages don’t talk back. When you’re driving a bus, and we have great kids, but whenever you’re dealing with kids, there’s the liability issue.”

The bus driver shortage is something Robert Barrix with the Boone County Schools transportation department says has been brewing for years.

It is finally coming to a head, he says.

“I would love to have a couple dozen, two to three dozen, right away,” explains Barrix. “That would take the immediate pressure off the start of school.”

He says if they don’t get more people hired before school starts next week, drivers will be doing double routes and that means the potential for delays.

“They’ll take the first load, of let’s say, elementary students in, come back to the school and take a second in,” explains Barrix. “Same with going home. You may have kids waiting an extra 20 or 30 minutes after dismissal for their bus to come back after it’s completed an initial run.”

All three school districts say it is not too late to apply to be a bus driver. They do offer that paid training as well as health and retirement benefits.

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