{"id":11335,"date":"2024-01-19T21:31:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T21:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=11335"},"modified":"2024-01-19T21:31:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T21:31:46","slug":"driver-shortage-power-failures-tumultuous-school-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/01\/19\/driver-shortage-power-failures-tumultuous-school-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver shortage + power failures = tumultuous school days"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Thursday afternoon at Club Boulevard Magnet Elementary School \u2014 the second day of a district-wide bus driver shortage that has left schools and parents scrambling\u00a0 \u2014 teacher Cierra Boyce was exasperated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt was extremely hectic. As I was subbing for a teacher, I had to contact the entire class\u2019s parents and explain what was going on. It didn\u2019t help that when the district reached out to the parents about the bussing they did not fully explain the truth or why they didn\u2019t have enough bus drivers,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Wednesday evening, Durham Public Schools announced a shortage of bus drivers, and asked parents to transport their children to school themselves on Thursday for the second day in a row.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe regret to inform you that due to an ongoing bus driver shortage, we are facing challenges in providing transportation for our students tomorrow, Thursday, January 18,\u201d the statement reads. \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In light of this situation, we kindly request your support in transporting your children to and from school for the day. We understand the inconvenience this may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruption to your routine<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The shortage of bus drivers follows a district-wide payment dispute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In October, 1,300 Durham Public Schools classified workers \u2014 including instructional assistants, cafeteria workers and more \u2014 received emails detailing their new, increased salaries. According to the Durham Association of Educators, the elating news prompted many of the district\u2019s workers to quit their second jobs and adjust their monthly budgets. Then, last Friday, these workers received new emails: a policy change. The district revealed that they would no longer \u201cbe counting relevant years of experience in the private sector or working outside of North Carolina,\u201d according to the Durham Association of Educators. The pay dispute has resulted in a labor strike by the district\u2019s bus drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Durham Public Schools issued a statement Thursday saying the district is \u201cengaged in an active investigation regarding the implementation of the salary study.\u201d DPS officials declined to comment further about the salary study \u201cdue to the sensitive and critical nature of this matter.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Boyce finds the district\u2019s payment backslide disturbing. \u201cThere have been a lot of issues with payroll\u2026., and that is putting more of a financial strain on a lot of people,\u201d Boyce said. \u201cAnd they did it with no notice. So it was really upsetting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thursday was the second day in a row of chaos for local students and parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Club Boulevard parent Jackie Melvin arrived at the school to pick up her son on Thursday, pulling into the school\u2019s unusually calm parking lot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt\u2019s crazy,\u201d Melvin said. \u201cI am not really affected, my son is a car rider, but I\u2019ve seen the messages telling people that they need to pick their kids up because there are no buses coming.\u201d After school on Wednesday only one bus arrived to pick up the departing children, Melvin said. \u201cIt is surprising.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bus driver situation arrives on top of other Durham school closures due to power outages. Six Durham elementary schools and Middle College at Durham Technical Community College were closed Thursday due to power outages. \u201cMy coworkers, they are still in high school, they didn\u2019t go to school today,\u201d said a woman who was picking up a child after school at Club Boulevard on Thursday afternoon. \u201cThey had no power, no water, and no transportation. They had to stay home in the cold.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On January 25, the Durham Association of Educators will host a rally outside of the Board of Education building prior to the next school board meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe know that the only way to win real changes is for a majority of us to unite and take massive actions that demonstrate our power,\u201d said a statement from the Durham Association of Educators.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">DPS spokesperson Crystal Roberts said the school system is not anticipating bus shortages again on Monday but will inform parents should that change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday afternoon at Club Boulevard Magnet Elementary School \u2014 the second day of a district-wide bus driver shortage that has left schools and parents&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-schools","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - 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