In-person classes at Pickerington closed due to bus driver shortage
In-person classes at Pickerington schools were canceled Tuesday “due to the lack of transportation services,” according to the district's website
There also was no transportation for the district's career center, St. Pius X, Fairfield Christian Academy and Madison Christian students.
Pickerington students turned in their assignments virtually on Tuesday, and kindergarten students didn't have assigned work. District employees were still asked to report to school buildings.
Pickerington schools contracts its bus services through Petermann Bus and in an effort to attract more drivers, the company is offering a $1,000 signon bonus and $500 referral bonus, Jason Leeth, Petermann Bus' general manager, said in an email.
"Today's move to virtual learning for Pickerington Schools is the result of a spike in COVID-19 cases among Petermann Bus Services' office staff," Crystal Davis, the district's spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday.
Pickerington has 65 bus routes, 58 drivers and six substitute drivers, Leeth said.
Westerville schools also faced bus driver shortage Tuesday
Westerville middle and high schools were released early on Tuesday to allow for coverage of all bus routes, according to the district.
The high schools in the district were on a one-hour early release and all middle school students were on a 30-minute early release.
Westerville has 101 daily bus routes and four routes do not have assigned drivers, Charlie Boss, the district's community-engagement coordinator, said in an email. The district has five to seven substitute school bus drivers, on average, every day.
A bus driver shortage in Greater Columbus and across the country has complicated a new school year already made difficult by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases because of the highly contagious delta variant, fights over masking and vaccinating, and concerns about overcoming learning losses from the past year.
Last school year, there were 314,920 school bus drivers nationally — a nearly 15% decrease from the previous year, according to a May 2020 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There are currently 18,349 active school bus drivers in Ohio as of Sept. 17, according to the state Department of Education. The department said they did not have figures for previous years.
In a new nationwide survey, half of the 1,500 school transportation coordinators who responded described their bus driver shortages as either "severe" or "desperate." And roughly two-thirds of respondents indicated that the bus driver shortage is their number one problem or concern. mhenry@dispatch.com @megankhenry