Many kids ride the bus to and from school, however, recently the transportation many students in the district rely on has become
unreliable with the shortage of bus drivers.
“It’s stressful, and it’s exhausting because a lot of these drivers are covering more than their own shifts everyday,” bus driver Jerry
Sieve said. “…you’re stressed trying not to make them [kids] any later than they should be.”
One solution is creating better compensation standards to try and bring in more people interested in driving for the district.
“What we have done is we have looked at surrounding districts to find out what they actually pay their bus drivers,” Jane Puszkar, director on Francis Howells board of education said “We’ve added certain benefits such as insurance and added the benefit of paying for the commercial driver’s license.”
The issue affects families who have to plan their days and navigate changing bus schedules.
“It just stinks that this is happening, because I think if more people would give it a try, they’d be actually kind of surprised at how enjoyable it can be, but everything in life is what you make it,” Sieve said.
