While Anne Arundel County Public Schools are open today, there is a problem filling them. As of 9:00 am 18 bus routes have been canceled for at least the morning with nearly 30 others experiencing significant delays. And this is not unexpected.
AACPS has put up a page on their website to track the status of the various bus routes in real time. Additionally, parents are being asked to check this website daily for the status of buses.
We spoke with schools spokesperson Bob Mosier who said that the nationwide shortage of drivers is the primary driver for the delays and cancellations. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the labor market. School bus drivers have been essentially out of work for the past 18 months have moved onto other careers. School bus drivers tend to skew to a more vulnerable population for contracting COVID. And competition from companies such as Amazon play a role in that their contracted drivers are able to pick and choose how many hours per day and what hours they want to work–something not possible with school transportation systems.
Mosier said they have been working with contractors to recruit and hire new drivers but the shortage will not end any time soon. “We are working on a system to alert affected parents so that checking in daily will not be necessary; but for now, we need to make sure we are touching base with every possibly affected family,” said Mosier.
Bus routes and schedules are routinely tweaked at the beginning of the school year and this year is no different as schedules will continue to be modified for some time. Mosier did say that the contractors are calling in each morning with staffing issues so the status of routes can be updated as soon as possible.
