LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fayette County Public Schools is facing a bus driver shortage. It is leaving parents and children with canceled bus routes and looking for alternative solutions.
What You Need To Know
- Fayette County Public Schools canceled three bus routes Thursday morning
- Canceled routes included Bus 313, Bus 17 and Bus 217
- FCPS needs a total of 233 bus drivers, 191 bus monitors for a full staff
- The last time FCPS had full staff for buses was Fall 2019
Bus 313, bus 17, and bus 217 sat empty in the parking lot Thursday afternoon. Fayette County Public Schools sent out an email to parents explaining that those routes were canceled. They said it's because there aren't enough drivers to get behind the wheel.
“The overall solution is just staffing, we are having a staffing shortage. It is critical that we ultimately get back to full staffing levels to be able to deliver our services to students,” said Myron Thompson, chief operating officer of FCPS.
The situation is leaving parents scrambling, finding out that they need to make plans to pick up their kids from school. They shared frustrations on social media, with some saying students waited for their bus for over an hour.
“That shortage included everyone that had CDL that was able to drive, did drive. We pulled out mechanics, routing, and everyone in the department that are non-drivers that have licenses were used,” Thompson said.
Bus driver shortages aren't a new issue. Fall 2019 was the first time in decades FCPS was fully staffed in transportation. And now the district has 25 empty bus driver positions. FCPS said they have tried everything to get drivers from raising pay to recruitment campaigns.
“I will just say to families, each winter we go through an exercise where there could be inclement weather, families need to have a plan in case school is called off that, have something to respond to. Unfortunately this will be extended this year until we get our staffing up,” Thompson said.
Thompson wants parents to plan on finding alternative ways to get their students to school for now. And he is asking for anyone in need of a job to consider this one.
“We strongly encourage people to give us a look, we’re a great place to learn and work. We’re definitely in need of folks to help us get our kids to and from school,” Thompson said.
If you want to see all the open positions for Fayette County Public Schools, you can head over to their website.