PCCS : Transportation Updates For Families With Suspended Bus Routes (October 27, 2021)

Press release from Plymouth-Canton Community Schools:

10/27/2021 1:29 PM

P-CCS Students and Families:

We are writing today to provide an update to our families of the bus routes that have had to be suspended due to the national driver shortage that has impacted us locally at P-CCS. Currently, Durham School Services has approximately 90 school bus drivers to cover 108 bus routes, where a route typically covers a high school, a middle school and an elementary school.  Therefore, Durham is short 18 bus drivers as of October 26.  There are four casual (part-time) drivers and one office staff member that are continuing to drive buses to help with this difficult situation.  All routes have been reviewed, combined and reworked where possible from 116 routes to 108 routes, but there remain 13 general education routes that are uncovered and therefore, temporarily suspended until new bus drivers can be hired, trained and receive their full driving credentials.

Currently Suspended Routes:

• Bus 21G Route 06

• Bus 13 Route 10

We continue to assign new drivers to the routes that have been suspended since the start of the school year, followed by those that are becoming vacant now due to recent resignations or leaves.  Unfortunately if drivers become ill, then routes need to be suspended the same day, since there are no substitutes to take over the route.

We realize that this issue creates hardships for many of our families and we are doing our best to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. We thank you for your patience as we work through this challenging shortage of drivers. We are legally obligated to provide special education routes so we have to ensure those routes are bid on and covered first.

We have recently seen an increase in applications to fill these vacancies, and Durham is actively pursuing staff to fill these vacancies.  There are currently 15 bus drivers in the hiring process: six that have started their behind the wheel training and nine working on their temporary instructional permits (TIPS). These drivers will be assigned a route as soon as they are fully credentialed, which unfortunately takes several weeks through the State of Michigan.

We again apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and continue to work daily to reinstate routes as drivers become fully credentialed. We have some availability in our before- and after-school care programs through the Extended Day Program office, and these opportunities may be able to be offered at no cost for families during the times that their bus route(s) is suspended. Please contact Lisa Trucks at (734) 416-6105 to request assistance.  We will continue to keep you updated periodically as to the status of our transportation services.  Please feel free to call the transportation office at (734) 416-3032 or (734) 416-3033 if you have any specific questions.

This press release was produced by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.