Some Seattle students could see bus pickup delays on Thursday
Seattle Public Schools students experience bus delays on first day back
The region is experiencing a shortage of school bus drivers, which impacted the start of the school year for SPS
SEATTLE - Drivers around Seattle may have noticed more traffic jams on Wednesday as school started up for the first time in a year and a half, but for some students, the transition back to classrooms wasn’t the smoothest.
Some parents say they got an email around 7 p.m. on Tuesday about their bus routes that could be up to two hours late picking up their kids on Wednesday.
The notice identified the possibility of dozens of delayed bus routes Parents say they are understanding of disruptions during the pandemic, but what they are most frustrated about is how last-minute the alert was.
When questioned about the issue, Superintendent Brent Jones called it a ‘complex issue,’ especially with the bus driver shortage across the region
"I think we sent it out as soon as we found out, we gave the notification. I am confident we will make adjustments," Jones said.
Seattle Public Schools partners with First Student, the vendor to provide bus drivers and transportation.
Last week, First Student told Q13 News that they were confident they would get the hires they need to fill the gap.
Seattle Public Schools says they don’t expect this bus route delay to be a prolonged problem.
As of Wednesday morning, SPS says there were aware of 39 bus routes possibly delayed out of 800 routes.
For Thursday, some delays will be expected for the morning pickup. Families are being apprised of this as soon as possible
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