‘It has been a challenge;’ Busing shortages causing transportation issues for parents

DAYTON — A shortage of school bus drivers has left some local students with longer commutes and some with no rides at all.

Ezra Poole has 11-year-old twins that attend a charter school in Dayton. She told News Center 7′s Candace Price that it has been a struggle to get her kids to school on time to avoid consequences.

“It has been a challenge,” Poole said.

Poole said transportation has been “hectic,” and that she has been responsible getting her kids back and forth to school because of charter school buses taking long routes and not getting the kids to school until after 9 a.m.

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“Their bus picks them up at 8:08 [a.m.] and they have to be at school at 8:30 [a.m.], so they would be late,” Poole said.

Poole said she has received a letter from her children’s school warning parents that students who are late would get tardy notices, and that so many notices would lead to detention.

“It doesn’t help the parents who have to decide if they are going to miss work to get their children to school,” Poole said.

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According to Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Lolli, DPS stopped busing charter and private school students this year to try and make more drivers available to bus their own students.

“Last year had 10 to 12 drivers out everyday, 20 uncovered routes,” Lolli said.

Currently, DPS has five or six drivers out sick, meaning five or six routes need to be covered. Lolli said DPS is looking to make some changes to routes in October to help make up for any issues they may have with shortages or getting routes covered.

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