SLC School Dist. short bus drivers, other employees covering routes

SALT LAKE CITY — As the school year kicks off, the Salt Lake City School District doesn’t have enough drivers to pick up the bus routes.

Students filed in for the first day of class Tuesday, and some of them arrived at school thanks to other district employees filling in on bus routes.

“We are seeing a shortage of bus drivers,” said Yándary Chatwin, Salt Lake City School District spokesperson. The district sent a letter to families the night before the first day of school, “to let them know about that, to encourage folks to apply, to send the link to people, and also just let families know that they may impact the drives.”

The letter explains that the district needs more bus drivers to cover all the routes, and that for now, employees from elsewhere in the transportation department are stepping in to get kids to school.

Their director of the transportation department, for example, is picking up routes.

“He has the right license, but that’s not his job to drive,” Chatwin said. “But on a moment’s notice, he’s able to do that. Other folks in the department can do that as well because again, for us it’s a team effort and the priority is to make sure we serve students.”

Everyone filling in has the proper license, Chatwin explained, but because these aren’t the normal drivers familiar with the routes, parents may experience delays in their children getting picked up.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure we serve students,” she said. “But we just wanted to be in open communication with families to let them know what our situation is.”

The district is hoping people will apply, and Chatwin said that the job is flexible with both contract and hourly positions, with morning and afternoon hours, or daytime hours for field trips.

The link to apply is here.