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Loyalsock Township proposes changes in bus schedule to deal with driver shortage

“Literally every day is a juggling act,” is how Dan Egly, business manager at the Loyalsock Township School District, described the transportation situation in the district resulting from a shortage of bus drivers.

Characterizing the driver shortage as “outrageous,” Egly noted that this year alone, the district has lost four drivers and has had to resort to double-shifting two bus runs at this point, sometimes taking students out of school early in order to accommodate the altered schedule.

The district currently has nine bus drivers but not all can drive every day and if a driver calls off, Egly said that it just creates a “mess.”

He said that “we can be on the phone until nine or ten at night trying to find replacements.”

The lack of drivers not only affects the daily bus runs, but also impacts field trips and extracurricular activities.

Because of COVID restrictions, field trips have been curtailed this school year, but even if they had been allowed, Egly admitted the district would not have been able to provide transportation.

“We wouldn’t be able to go on them,” he said. “We don’t have the drivers.”

Difficulties also arise because the township has to transport students in alternative education, sometimes out of the area. Although an outside agency sometimes helps with transportation, Egly noted that there are areas they won’t go and a lot of parents won’t agree to other arrangements.

To address the issue, the district is proposing staggering starting and dismissal times for the high school-middle school students and those at Schick Elementary. Egly stressed that the plan is still a work in progress and that the district will probably modify a few things.

Under the current schedule, children at the elementary level in a neighborhood ride the same bus as their counterparts at the high school and middle school level.

The starting time for Schick Elementary is 8 a.m., although the doors open earlier to serve breakfast. At the high and middle schools, students need to be at the school by 7:45 a.m..

Under the proposed changes, a driver would drop students off at the high and middle schools at 7:30 a.m. and then leave for a second run to pick up elementary students so that they arrive by 8:15 a.m.

At the end of the day, the high and middle schools would dismiss at 2:45 p.m. and Schick at 3:25 p.m. Currently the buses depart at 3 p.m. from the high and middle schools and at 2:55 p.m. for elementary students.

The change would decrease the number of students on buses at one time from about 70 to 75 down to 40, Egly said. It would also decrease the number of buses in circulation from nine to seven,

Although bus ridership has decreased during the pandemic, Egly said that it is starting to go up again. Typically Loyalsock has about 925 bus riders.

Some districts facing a shortage of drivers have begun contracting with outside companies in order to staff their buses, a move which Egly said would be costly. He sees the changes the district is considering as a fiscally responsible way to try to deal with the problem.

“I would rather have four or five drivers who are willing to get their CDL to help out with the situation,” he said.

“Anyone interested in driving, we would love to talk to them,” Egly added.

In order to inform residents of the district about the proposed plan and to get community input, the district is holding a meeting at 6 p.m., April 21 at the High School/Middle School Auditorium. Limited seating of about 100 is available for public attendance. The meeting will also use a virtual format with the link available on the district’s website prior to the start of the meeting.

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