News Summary
The Mat-Su Borough School District has canceled approximately 42 bus routes due to a significant driver shortage, causing disruptions for local families. Parents received late notices and had to adjust their schedules on short notice. The district relies on Durham School Services and is working to resolve the issue. Other districts, such as Anchorage, are facing similar challenges and have implemented a rotating bus schedule as they seek solutions to attract new drivers amid staffing shortages.
Wasilla, Alaska – The Mat-Su Borough School District canceled dozens of bus routes last week due to a significant shortage of drivers, affecting local families and their daily logistics. The cancellations took place on Thursday and Friday of the previous week, with around 42 out of the 550 daily route segments impacted. This represents less than 4% of the district’s total routes. However, parents expressed concern over the late notifications, receiving alerts just hours before scheduled pick-up times.
John Notestine, a spokesperson for the district, confirmed that the cancellations stemmed from driver absences, and there weren’t enough standby drivers available to fill in. The district relies on Durham School Services, which has been the school bus contractor since 2022 under a nearly $200 million contract, and attributed the driver shortage to a variety of factors, including unplanned leaves of absence and unexpected call-offs.
The impact of these cancellations was particularly troublesome for parents who had to adjust their work and school arrangements within short notice. One parent noted that such changes significantly disrupt family coordination and planning.
Fortunately, after the cancellations over the weekend, there were no reports of further disruptions on the following Monday, allowing some families to regain a sense of stability. The district is optimistic about resolving the driver shortage soon as some staff are scheduled to return and new drivers are nearing completion of their training.
This is not the district’s first encounter with transportation issues. In August 2022, the Mat-Su Borough School District also faced a driver shortage that led to regular education route cancellations at the beginning of the school year. Other school districts, like the Anchorage School District, experienced similar challenges, launching a rotating bus schedule to adapt to their reduced driver numbers, which in turn affected the transportation services for thousands of families.
The Anchorage School District has reported they can only serve about 7,000 of the 20,000 eligible students due to insufficient drivers, implementing a divided system where general education routes operate on a three-week rotation followed by a six-week pause. This system does not affect students with special education requirements or those living within 1.5 miles of their schools.
In response to the continuing crisis, the Anchorage School District is seeking alternative solutions and has offered a $2,500 incentive package to attract new drivers, along with an additional $500 for bus attendants in the first semester. Despite these efforts, the severe driver shortage continues to be a pressing issue, not limited to transportation but affecting various departments within the district. Currently, there are 375 open positions across the Anchorage School District alone.
Furthermore, the Alaska National Guard has stated it cannot assist with the driver shortage due to legal limitations preventing activation for such purposes. As conditions stand, parents in affected districts, including Mat-Su and Anchorage, may need to consider other arrangements, such as driving their children to school or carpooling with fellow families.
As the Mat-Su Borough School District looks ahead, officials remain hopeful for improvements in staffing as they work with their transportation contractor to mitigate the ongoing challenges in transporting students safely and reliably.
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Additional Resources
- Alaska’s News Source: Driver Shortage Hits Mat-Su Students
- Wikipedia: School Bus
- Anchorage Daily News: National Guard Unable to Help with Bus Driver Shortage
- Google Search: School Bus Driver Shortage
- School Transportation News: Driver Shortages in Alaska
- Google Scholar: School Bus Driver Shortage
- Anchorage Daily News: ASD Bus Routes Suspension
- Encyclopedia Britannica: School Transportation
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