Durham school bus drivers rally to cover routes. Chapel Hill still without drivers.
The Durham Public Schools system covered all its bus routes Friday morning after transportation staff changed schedules and canceled appointments to fill in for missing drivers, the school system said.
The school system, facing one of the biggest bus driver shortages in the North Carolina, had warned families they might need to find another way to get their children to and from school Friday because of the ongoing shortage.
But late Friday morning the system announced transportation staff had banned together to cover all the affected bus routes. More than 2,000 students could have been stranded by the driver shortage.
The affected routes included 39, 49, 88, 116, 127, 188, 200, 213, 220, 227, 231, 468, 609, and 643 traveling to:
- Brogden
- Burton
- C.E. Jordan High
- DSA
- Eno Valley
- Hillandale
- Hillside
- Holt
- Hope Valley
- James E. Shepard
- Lakewood Elementary
- Lakewood Montessori
- Lowe’s Grove
- Merrick-Moore
- Northern
- Oak Grove
- R.N. Harris
- Sandy Ridge
- Sherwood Githens
- Southern
- Southwest
The school system is working to avoid delays and absences for the afternoon.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro buses without drivers
In Chapel Hill-Carrboro, two routes affecting five schools did not have drivers Friday morning, the school district announced in a Tweet.
The affected routes/numbers are:
This is the second day this week the school system made the announcement. Thursday, four routes were facing driver absences.
Hiring for positions
Durham’s bus driver shortage is among the larger shortages school districts are facing across the state. The district is still hiring for 70 positions, with daily absences rising during cold and flu season, WUNC reported.
In a news release, the school system announced it is offering signing bonuses and other incentives to hire bus drivers. They include:
- Attendance Incentive: Drivers who have perfect attendance for each pay period during regular employment periods will be awarded an $150 per month.
- Recruitment Incentive: Drivers who are newly hired full time with a valid commercial driver’s license and are properly endorsed for driving school buses (Passenger [P] and School [S]), may qualify for a recruitment bonus of $3,000
- Referral Incentive: Employees who refer hired bus drivers and monitors will earn $1,000 for each successfully hired individual.
Wake County Schools has also had to cancel a bus route this week due to a driver shortage.
This is a developing story. Check back here for a fuller report.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 8:42 AM.