SCUSD is facing a shortage of bus drivers, with 15 routes and various field trips for 18 drivers to cover. The transportation department, bus drivers and students experience the impact of the shortage on a daily basis.
For most of the eight years dispatcher Caroline Lopes has been working at SCUSD, the district has faced a bus driver shortage. Currently, the district is five bus drivers short.
“Everyday, I schedule the drivers extra assignments to cover where we are short while hopefully arriving everywhere on time, which can be quite a challenge,” Lopes said. “Home to school transportation is always the priority. Unfortunately, sometimes school’s will need to adjust trip times.”
Bus driver Mary Ramirez has been a driver for 10 years, and the shortage can make her job stressful. Sometimes, the amount of students has to be doubled in buses for them to arrive at school or home on time.
“Being understaffed causes me to have to cover additional routes, other schools, and get out of work later at times,” Ramirez said.
Junior Soham Kulkarni is one of many students who take the bus as their primary form of transportation.
“I see it (the bus) as a really good opportunity for me because, otherwise, I’d be biking,” Kulkarni said.
According to Ramirez, the shortage impacts students as well. Kulkarni recalled routes occasionally taking over an hour to get home. In the future, he hopes to see more regularity.
“I do think that on the way back, it does take a bit of a toll on us (students) for the timing. Just a little bit of consistency will be nice for a year,” Kulkarni said.
There are many prerequisites to become a bus driver, from training, endorsements, a clean DMV record and background checks. Lopes recognized the job difficulty of managing students while driving.
With the addition of new campuses in recent years, transportation has become more of a challenge, exacerbating the struggles faced by the preexisting shortage of bus drivers.
“The biggest challenge since the pandemic is the opening of the new school sites. We doubled the amount of buses needed while never having a full staff,” Lopes said.
As a student, Kulkarni sees the impact of the bus driver shortage and is appreciative of the effort they put in everyday to ensure students get to school on time.
“It’s been really tough on them,” Kulkarni said. “I know that they do the best they can. My bus drivers have been really considerate especially.”
Lopes encourages more students to be understanding of their drivers’ schedules by showing up to their bus stops on time to ensure no one gets delayed.
“We are driving extremely tight schedules trying to get over 1500+ students to and from school with 18 drivers,” Lopes said. “Arriving at your stop on time may seem insignificant, but if we waited for every student at every stop, no one would arrive on time.”
For Ramirez, awareness between students and drivers is essential as many may not know about the tight schedules drivers face on a daily basis.
“What can be done to support drivers and staff during the shortage is to have patience and understanding,” Ramirez said. “It is stressful trying to get students to school on time for breakfast (and) home on time for their jobs when more stops are being added to the routes to make sure all students get to school.”
Lopes, too, encourages students to understand what transportation staff are facing due to shortages and appreciates exchanges of gratitude.
“We are all working overtime to make sure every route, sports trip and field trip is covered,” Lopes said. “Please make sure to be courteous to your driver. A thank you goes a long way.”