As Rochester prepared for the first day of school on Thursday, City School Superintendent Dr. Lesli Myers-Small told the school board that 317 students would have to walk or find their own ride to school.
The district had lost three more bus drivers as of Wednesday afternoon, making it more than 100 drivers short of what it needed to run a full bus schedule. The district worked out an agreement with the Regional Transit Service to put high school students onto RTS buses, and was working to extend that agreement. But a nunber of its students couldn’t be accommodated, including special ed and charter school students.
The bus driver shortage is a national issue, compounded of COVID-19 and the general labor situation around the country.
The district carries 31,000 students per day, so Superintendent Myers-Small said it’s situation isn’t too bad.