{"id":13439,"date":"2024-09-13T21:30:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T21:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=13439"},"modified":"2024-09-13T21:32:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T21:32:36","slug":"waiting-at-the-bus-stop-durham-schools-start-the-year-with-a-bus-driver-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2024\/09\/13\/waiting-at-the-bus-stop-durham-schools-start-the-year-with-a-bus-driver-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting at the bus stop: Durham schools start the year with a bus driver shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parents calling Durham Public Schools\u2019 transportation services department recently with questions about their child\u2019s school bus may have trouble getting through. Why? Ten members of transportation\u2019s administrative staff have left their posts to help drive the buses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At a DPS work session Thursday, Anthony S. Lewis, the school district\u2019s new superintendent, acknowledged transportation trouble in the first few weeks of the school year. Lewis cited increased ridership and a bus driver shortage as the source of the disarray.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd let me be clear,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cThese are not excuses. I do think it\u2019s hugely important for everyone in this community to know the current reality. And, it\u2019s hugely important for everyone in this community to know what we\u2019re doing about some of these challenges.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the board\u2019s August work session, rider requests in the school system increased by almost 5,000 students, the superintendent said. Meanwhile, the district is short 30 bus drivers, Mathew Palmer, senior executive director of school planning and operational services, said in response to an inquiry from The 9th Street Journal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thirty-two candidates are \u201cin the queue\u201d for driver training and testing, a process which should take approximately two months, Lewis said at the meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The system has also hired nine contractors to help with transportation communication, he added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The driver shortage is causing headaches for DPS parents such as Jane Dornemann, whose son takes the bus to school each day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConsistently, and I mean almost every day, either the bus doesn\u2019t stop for him, the bus doesn\u2019t show up, or we get a message a bus is two hours late,\u201d Dornemann said in an interview with The 9th Street Journal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe other issue is that my son is also consistently waiting for the bus downtown for up to two hours,\u201d she added. \u201cHe most of the time gets home by six o\u2019clock. His school lets out at 3:20.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside the driver shortage, parents \u2014 including Lewis himself \u2014 have struggled to use the bus tracking system, Edulog Parent Portal App.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our parents have not been able to consistently see the buses in the parent portal app,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cI\u2019m one of those parents that have not been able to see that consistently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dornemann, the DPS parent, expressed frustration with Edulog during public comment earlier in the evening.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dornemann called on the board to \u201creplace Edulog immediately. It is not reliable and multiple school districts across the country have dropped it for this reason, and even taken Edulog to court and won.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents calling Durham Public Schools\u2019 transportation services department recently with questions about their child\u2019s school bus may have trouble getting through. Why? 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