Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools remain without bus drivers for 21 routes Tuesday
Update: Bus 71 and EC Bus 143 are back in service Tuesday morning, Feb. 21. The list of affected routes also has been updated.
A week after voting to raise bus driver pay to $20 an hour and to consider other changes, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools said Tuesday morning that nearly two dozen routes remained without drivers.
Now, officials are reaching out to other district staff members who have a commercial driver’s license with an “S” endorsement and to Chapel Hill Transit to find additional drivers, spokesman Andy Jenks said.
The district already was trying to fill over two dozen driver vacancies. On Sunday, Jenks said, several transportation staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 and that at least 25 — out of 42 drivers, plus office staff — would not be able to work Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
“This means our morning and afternoon bus runs, already impacted by a shortage of drivers under normal circumstances, will be significantly impacted this week,” Jenks said in the release.
Bus routes affected, transportation options
As of Tuesday morning, families with students on these bus routes were told to find other ways to get their children to school:
- Bus 7
- Bus 19
- Bus 20
- Bus 22
- Bus 40
- Bus 65
- Bus 66
- Bus 67
- Bus 76
- Bus 81
- Bus 89 (newly added)
- Bus 114
- Bus 115 (newly added)
- Bus 116
- EC Bus 130
- Bus 131
- Bus 139 (newly added)
- EC Bus 141 (newly added)
- Bus 144
- Bus 247
- Bus 256 (newly added)
Families who cannot provide alternate transportation for their children should contact the Transportation Office at 919-942-5045, starting at 6:30 a.m., to arrange a bus pickup, Jenks said.
He warned that alternate buses will not be able to pick up the students until after 9 a.m., but said those students would not be counted as tardy for arriving to class late. The delays could affect middle and high school students, in particular, Jenks said.
Afternoon routes also will be affected, he said.
Families with students in grades K-2 are urged to be at the bus stop on time, or drivers will have to follow district policy and drive the students back to school, causing additional delays in getting them home, Jenks said.
Chapel Hill Transit routes and schedules are available online:
- Carrboro High School is covered by the J route
- Chapel Hill High School is covered by the HS route
- East Chapel Hill High School is covered by the T route
The district will send any additional information about delays home with the students, he said, adding that parents also can get more information through the “Here Comes the Bus App.” Parents will need their student’s school ID number and the District Code — 86446 — to access information on the app, he said.
Driver shortage, changes planned
Last week, the CHCCS school board learned that drivers were not available to keep every bus on the road for 44 out of 52 school days between November and early February. The bus routes were only fully staffed for two days since Jan. 1, Chief Operations Officer André Stewart said.
More than 6,600 students rely on a bus to get them to school every day, he said.
The district is being affected by the larger national shortage, Superintendent Nyah Hamlett noted, adding that officials are concerned the inability to get students to school on time is affecting their education.
The salary increase approved last week will make CHCCS bus drivers the highest paid in the Triangle, topping Durham Public Schools, which pays $18.13 an hour, and Wake County Public Schools, which pays $17.20.
CHCCS drivers, who work part-time without benefits, also will earn more than Chapel Hill Transit and GoDurham bus drivers.
The board will consider additional changes this spring, from consolidating bus stops to changing the bell schedule for the district’s 11 elementary schools. Seven of the schools would operate from 7:30 a.m. to 2:10 p.m., and four others would operate from 7:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Another option would require students who attend the district’s magnet schools to take a bus to their local school, where other buses would transfer them to their assigned magnet programs.
The district has not yet scheduled a public hearing on the proposed changes. If approved, the changes would not take effect until the 2023-24 school year starts in August.
This story was originally published February 19, 2023 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools remain without bus drivers for 21 routes Tuesday."
