BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Nearly 27,000 Buffalo students rely on the bus to get to school and some parents say bus delays continue already a month into the new school year.
The Buffalo School Board president says the district is still trying to hire 40 additional drivers for its routes as nationwide school bus driver shortages continue.
But parents say they are still dealing with bus pick-up and drop-off delays.
“At 7:45 — telling me that my children's bus was going to be late and their bus comes at 8:14,” explained Le’Candice Durham, parent, Buffalo Public School District.
Durham says for the second week in a row the bus was late picking up her three children who go to School #89 and returning home.
“How frustrated are you with the school district that this continues?” Buckley asked.
“I'm very frustrated — the district knew last year prior that we have a shortage of bus drivers and now that the new school year has begun and we're still going through the same thing,” remarked Durham.
“This is a crisis and it is a major issue that remains,” replied Larry Scott, board member, Buffalo School Board.
Scott tells me the district has a contract that costs $40 to $50 million a year with First Student to take students to and from school, yet the district is struggling to hire enough drivers.
“The primary responsibility lies with First Student to recruit, train and retain drivers throughout the entire school year,” explained Scott.
First Student continues to recruit drivers with job postings, paying between $25 to $28 an hour with signing bonuses of up to $5,000.
In response to the shortage, the district is proposing a new program to pay parents to drive their children to school.
“Our children are on the bus an average of two hours a day on a bus — that's like a commute,” declared Sam Radford, co-chair, We The Parents.
Radford tells me for now, he supports the proposed plan to reimburse parents for driving their kids to school.
“This is the most important conversation going on in the district right now — we have to get every child to school every day on time,” responded Radford.
Durham tells me she believes paying parents should be the "last option” for the district.
“I don't want to be paid to take my children to school. I want to see my children getting on a bus,” Durham noted.
Board member Scott agrees and noted many city parents don't own vehicles.
“I struggle with paying more money — throwing more money at this problem — that doesn't have evidence to support it,” Scott said.
But for now, nearly 3,000 city students continue to deal with bus delays to and from school.
The district began the first of three informational meetings on the Transportation Reimbursement Pilot Program Tuesday night on Zoom.
Two more sessions will be held Thursday, September 29 at noon and Monday, October 3 at 5 p.m.
