WATERFORD, Mich. — Some Waterford families are having to find another way to get their children to school as a critical bus driver shortage forces the district to cancel service on certain routes one day each week.
Waterford School District notified parents Friday about a new bus cancellation schedule that took effect this week. The schedule lets families know which day of the week their child's bus route will not be in service.
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The cancellations affect 21 general education routes. Special education routes are not affected.
For Waterford parent Tom Parker, the change has made mornings a lot more complicated. With four children and no bus service two days a week, his family is spending more time on the road.
“It’s a chaotic morning that’s for sure,” Parker said.
“We have to go to the high school and then we have to hurry up and go to the middle school, and then make it back to get the elementary kids ready,” he said.
The scheduled cancellations come after parents dealt with less predictable disruptions. Waterford parent Melinda Tindall said that for about a month, parents were sometimes learning about bus cancellations at the last minute.
“Less than 15 minutes before the end of the day that you have to come up with a ride for your kid, it’s just, it’s not a way to be,” Tindall said.
While the new schedule isn't what she had hoped for, Tindall said it at least gives her a chance to plan ahead. Her child's route does not have service on Tuesdays, so she now goes into work early to make sure she can get back in time for dismissal.
“If I didn’t run my own business, I wouldn’t be able to take my kid to and from school on Tuesdays,” Tindall said. “I’d have to figure out a different mode of transportation.”
Waterford Superintendent Adam Martin apologized to parents and said the district implemented the schedule to give families more predictability instead of potentially notifying them at the last minute when a driver is unavailable.
“I apologize to the parents. We don’t want to be here, but we’re not alone. Other districts have had to do this. It’s a nationwide shortage,” Martin said.
Martin said the district hopes the cancellations will be short lived as it works to add more drivers.
“The goal is for this to be temporary to pull those cancellations back while we’re hiring, and on-boarding, and training new drivers,” he said.
The transportation problems are also raising concerns about students missing school. The district counted 15 absences tied to bus cancellations on Monday.
“We’re identifying those students, we’re going to reach out to them,” Martin said.
The district says it is also reworking its bus routes and interviewing prospective drivers this week.
Waterford Schools currently has 34 bus drivers and would like to have 40 or more to be considered fully staffed. The district says it is actively looking to hire six to 10 additional drivers in hopes of restoring the canceled routes.
For parents like Parker and Tindall, the new schedule may provide more certainty, but it hasn't eliminated concerns about what could happen when another driver is unavailable.
“That’s my main concern, too, if one bus driver gets sick, is there going to be more days that we don’t have a bus?” Parker said.
Tindall said reliable transportation is an important part of making sure students can get their education.
“We want our kids to have a good education and part of that education system is the bus transportation,” she said.
The district is encouraging anyone interested in becoming a bus driver to apply.
