Central Michigan schools still facing bus driver shortage ahead of start of school year

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Districts across Michigan are still facing a critical shortage of bus drivers as many students prepare to return to classrooms.

The shortage is forcing some Springport parents to search for solutions.

“My son will not have a bus driver for two weeks, so I will have to provide transportation for him during those two weeks. In the meantime, my son’s bus driver is going and filling in for the route that doesn’t have a driver,” said Jessica England, a Springport parent.

Now she has to figure out how to get her 7-year-old son to school for the first two weeks. “I’m going to have to rely on friends, family and neighbors unless I can work around my job,” England said.

A district statement says:

At Springport, we have been recruiting drivers for the past 3 years and they are simply hard to find.

The state has increased mandatory training and associated fees, which has not helped attract new drivers. The timeline for a driver to obtain their credentials takes weeks and access is limited. The level of competition to retain drivers has also been a challenge. The pay rate has increased exponentially in order to compete and maintain a fleet on the road. We are fortunate, our drivers have seen an increase, but they have also been committed to our community over the years.

Our challenge this year was to start the summer with 13 routes. We were short one driver at the beginning of the summer, so we reduced that number to 12 routes, all of which were nearly at full capacity. At the end of the summer, we lost another driver for various reasons. We are now short one driver. We will operate 12 routes with 11 drivers.

We believe that access to education for all of our students should be a priority. To honor our belief that Springport is a family, we share that challenge with all families. We ask that families transport their children for a designated period of time. We recognize that this is an incredible inconvenience and we cannot be more grateful for the support and understanding that our families have shown.

We will continue to look for drivers to take care of our most precious cargo! If you know someone who wants to be a driver, we pay for their entire training, pay for all training and associated fees, pay for licensing, and provide the necessary physicals. Plus, you earn a competitive wage, share a calendar with your student, get paid time off, and have the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives.

“This year, if we could get two or three more, that would be great. We would love to have four or five,” Hopkins-Speicher said.

The Lansing Public School District partnered with CATA to provide bus passes to high school students. Superintendent Ben Shuldiner says the program has helped high school attendance rates be higher than pre-COVID numbers. Hopkins-Speicher says with limited options, she hopes community members will help fill the gap.

“If more people would come to the community and want to bring their grandchildren, nieces, nephews, even their own children if they can, that would be fantastic,” Hopkins-Speicher said.

In Springport, parents like England have about a week to resolve the problem. “It’s not the school’s fault, I know it’s not their fault, so I can’t be mad at them,” England said.

Several districts are still looking to hire bus drivers, and many of them hire through Dean Transportation, including these central Michigan school districts: Lansing Schools, Ingham ISD, East Lansing, Webberville, Dansville, Eaton Rapids Public Schools, Eaton RESA, and Potterville Public Schools. If you would like to train to become a driver, you can apply here.

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