November 22, 2020 | 6:54 PM
Tuscaloosa City Schools alerted parents they may want to drive their kids to school for the next few days because of a shortage of bus drivers.
A school system spokesman explained Wednesday how the situation occurred and what they are trying to do to hire more drivers.
“According to Lesley Bruinton, a spokesperson for Tuscaloosa City Schools, “There are 23 vacancies in the Transportation Department with only a few absences due to illness, others related to quarantine that created the problem that we had yesterday.
19 buses from the entire fleet on Wednesday’s road to Tuscaloosa City Schools were affected by the absences.
Bruiton said that on time students riding those buses arrived at classes. Nevertheless the school system recognized that certain parents would be more relaxed sending their child to school and back under the conditions due to the reforms.
“For the rest of this week, parents are encouraged to send their children to school if they can. According to a post on the Facebook page of the school system, we expect to get most of our staff back to work after we return from Thanksgiving break.
Despite getting less bus drivers right now, Bruinton explained what they’re doing to transport students.
“What we’ve done is break down some bus routes, have some drivers run second or third routes to make sure we get everybody here on time.”
Tuscaloosa City Schools is offering several incentives including a $500 bonus for people who are hired to become bus drivers.