Texas schools are navigating through a sea of obstacles as the latest wave of COVID-19 continues to spread across the state. Teachers and calling in sick, parents are and some campuses have no choice but to temporarily shutter.
Now they can add transportation issues to that list as some of the state's largest public-school districts grapple with how to get students to class on time.
But district officials have said, while there will be some delays, students will eventually make it to school and back home safely.
鈥淲e are currently experiencing bus driver shortages due to COVID. However, we are still expecting to cover all routes,鈥� said Cristina Nguyen, a spokesperson for the Austin Independent School District. 鈥淲e plan to combine routes and everyone who is licensed to drive a school bus will be driving. We may experience some delays and will notify families as needed.鈥�
At San Antonio鈥檚 Northside Independent School District, which educates just shy of 103,000 students, some drivers are doing 鈥渄ouble runs鈥� where they tack on additional routes to fill in for colleagues who are out sick.
鈥淵ou can see certainly where that delay is taking place. It鈥檚 doing the same number of routes, getting those same numbers of kids home, but doing it with less drivers,鈥� said NISD spokesperson Barry Perez.
Recruiting and keeping drivers was a challenge for school districts even before the pandemic, but the shortfalls are being felt more directly now.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that we have ever been 100 percent fully staffed,鈥� Perez said. 鈥淲ith 16 school districts here in the area we鈥檙e always competing for great drivers.鈥�
Some of that competition comes from the San Antonio Independent School District, which has a student population of about 45,000. SAISD hasn鈥檛 experienced any current issues, a district official said. But he credits that to year-round job fairs that are paying off now amid the spike in cases.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been pretty lucky, really. Throughout this whole pandemic, we鈥檝e been recruiting bus drivers. So I think that鈥檚 the key,鈥� said Nathan Graf, the district鈥檚 senior executive director for transportation. 鈥淲e鈥檝e never stopped hiring.鈥�
An additional challenge: The time it takes to train new school bus drivers.
鈥淔rom date of hiring to an individual getting behind the wheel can be anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks, or longer, depending on the individual candidate,鈥� Perez said.
At San Antonio ISD, the wait can be even longer, Graf said.
鈥淚f we hire a bus driver today, that bus driver won鈥檛 be able to drive kids for at least another two months,鈥� he said.
The labor shortage in other areas of the state has led Texas鈥� largest school district to reevaluate its current transportation system.
鈥淏us driver challenges are not unique to HISD,鈥� said Larry J. Leonard, spokesperson for the Houston Independent School District. 鈥淭o address them, the department is taking a two-pronged approach 鈥� continued recruitment and retention efforts combined with ongoing route and ridership analysis,鈥� Leonard added.
The analysis will include reviewing and deleting unused routes and stops, he said. 鈥淲e currently have 658 routes. More decreases are being considered.鈥�
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