School bus driver shortage: Dozens of BOCES students still without rides
Due to a bus driver shortage, 74 Nassau BOCES students haven't been able to get to school this week unless their parents drive them. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Most of the dozens of Nassau BOCES special education students who haven't gotten a ride in their first week back to school might not see the yellow bus for another week or so, officials said Wednesday.
Due to a driver shortage, 74 students have not been able to get to school this week unless their parents drive them, which, officials said, many have done.
Angela Marshall, spokeswoman for Nassau BOCES, said schools, starting Thursday, will provide online instruction for those who can't come into the classroom.
The agency has been working to consolidate routes to accommodate more schoolchildren, she said. By Monday, 26 students are expected to be placed on buses. But for the remaining students, the lack of transportation may not be resolved until later this month, she said.
First Student, a private bus company contracted to transport Nassau BOCES students, informed the agency that five more drivers are expected to be ready late next week and take over the remaining routes Sept. 19, Marshall said.
Nassau BOCES, along with its vendors, transports about 1,000 of its 1,600 special education students. The rest of are transported through their home districts.
Marshall said the agency will continue to look for new drivers as Nassau BOCES tends to add students throughout the school year.
BOCES is a regional education agency that provides local school districts with specialized services such as occupational training, special education and administrative support. There are three BOCES agencies on Long Island: one in Nassau County and two in Suffolk County.
First Student is not a contractor for either BOCES in Suffolk.
Ryan Ruf of Eastern Suffolk BOCES. Credit: Eastern Suffolk BOCES
Ryan Ruf, chief operating officer for Eastern Suffolk BOCES, said about 35 students didn’t get a ride Tuesday. He’s expecting to have affected students reduced to about 15 by Friday.
“With the shortage of drivers right now, it's just really challenging to get all the students to school,” he said Wednesday. “The last 15 students will be addressed next week. We will just keep working on that number. … Oct. 1 is when everything will return to what we would refer to as normal.”
Michael Flynn, chief operating officer of Western Suffolk BOCES, said Tuesday in an emailed statement that only two out of more than 200 buses didn’t run that day.
“We have been assured that those buses will be staffed no later than the end of this week,” he wrote. “Until that time, the 18 students impacted are receiving virtual instruction.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
