District 49 concerned about meeting needs amid bus driver shortage
FALCON, Colo. (KRDO) -- Falcon School District 49 reopened their elementary school for 100% in-person learning, but the impacts of Covid-19 continue to linger.
Transportation officials with District 49 said because of Covid-19 restrictions, the amount of kids they can have on each bus is limited to only one student or one household per seat.
Bus drivers typically do drop off and pick up at three different schools in the morning and the afternoon, but they've had to run extra routes in between due to bus capacity limits. Officials said they do not have enough drivers to meet the demand.
“The fear is we’re not going to be able to provide the service to students that we’re used to providing," said District 49's Director of Transportation, Jack Pietraallo. "We simply don’t have enough drivers to run all of our regular routes.”
Pietraallo said the district's bus routes cover 133 square miles, and about 1,000 students take the bus per day. Around 70 families are still on a wait-list to get their kids back on a bus.
“Immediately, yesterday ... our community needs your help, we need bus drivers to get our kids back to school," said Pietraallo. "Until we can either figure out a way to get more students on the bus, if they have the capacity to do so, we may have to start turning kids away.”
District 49 officials said their drivers are paid hourly and receive full benefits. New hires are paid as they train to receive their commercial driver's license, which is a requirement for the job. Apply to be a bus driver here.
