National Guard activation to help Bus driver shortage

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Centro, school bus driver shortage could prompt activation of National Guard in New York

by Conor WightTuesday, September 14th 2021


Centro and school districts are struggling to find bus drivers, and kids are paying the price as we head into the second week of the school year.



Its a driver shortage that has impacted schools across the country - and Massachusetts' Governor Charlie Baker has responded by activating the National Guard.



New York Assemblyman Al Stirpe - representing parts of the Syracuse area - supports a similar plan for New York.



"This is an emergency situation. We can't deny this. This is like floods, and wars, and everything else that you would utilize the National Guard for," said Stirpe.



He said the National Guard is one of the few options Governor Hochul has to provide a solution for publicly funded agencies like Centro or public schools.



Assemblyman Mike Lawler, based downstate in Rockland County, has already sent a letter to the Governor requesting the assistance of the National Guard for local school districts.



"Over the summer, I raised the alarm over this very issue, and now the chickens have come home to roost. That's why I'm calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to call up the National Guard to act as emergency school bus drivers in districts across New York State, until the bus driver shortage can be resolved," Lawler said in a statement.



Stirpe is in support - saying the National Guard could also be used to help Centro.



"Kids making it to school that's probably the most important thing right now," said Stirpe.



The problems are continuing to mount for Centro, who says they are still assessing how they can get some cancelled routes back online.



They have stated that the schedule changes do not impact lines that directly serve to bring students to and from Syracuse City School District buildings - but some students who need access to other buses are having issues.



Ethan Baker, starting 10th grade at the downtown Institute of Technology this year, usually uses a Centro bus to get to school. While the schedule change can accommodate him in the morning, according to his mom Kathleen Kautz, they are left without a good option in the afternoon. He either has to wait over an hour by himself downtown to catch a bus that will get him close to home, or catch an earlier one and end up over a mile and a half from his house.



Kautz, for now, is trying to take time during a lunchbreak to pick him up at the end of the school day.



"It's that fear of having my kid dropped of somewhere else where he's not supposed to be," said Kautz.



School districts across Central New York are grappling with bussing issues. Today a spokesman for the Syracuse City School District confirmed that they needed to make thousands of route changes over the weekend at the request of families, causing delays on Tuesday.



In Central Square, Superintendent Tom Colabufo said they have enough drivers for now, but they're essentially treading water. Administrators and mechanics have had to step in to drive buses to ensure they're well staffed. He said if bus drivers get sick, they could end up being forced to switch to remote learning.



"We're trying our best to keep in person learning going," said Colabufo.


cnycentral.com/news/local/centro-school-bus-driver-shortage-could-prompt-activation-of-national-guard-in-new-york

Many little kids would be tickled pink to have a National Guard member drive them to school. 

[clarencebunsen]

Does the bus monitor get to carry an M-16?

[Clipper]

A school bus driver should not need an M16, but I have driven school buses when I worked part time for Birnie bus where the driver could probably benefited from a taser to keep the miscreants in line.

[BHU]

I have an idea. Start by making kids walk to school where possible like we did. Bussing students is big business costing school districts millions of dollars a year. I walked back & forth to school in all kinds of weather for years & I'm still around to rant about it. Lol

[clarencebunsen]

I have a friend, my age, who has worked for several years as a PT school bus driver. Last year he was given a mandatory retirement because of his age. Then he was brought back because they needed drivers. He has talked about keeping a loaded AR in the bus to enforce the stop signs on the bus when loading kids. Many violations. He may have been joking.

[Clipper]

There are some traffic violations that simply NEED to result in immediate suspension of a person's driver's license, and endangering the lives of children by passing a stopped school bus with it's warning lights activated is one of them.

As for national guard troops being activated to drive school buses, districts might want to think twice about using TANK DRIVERS unless they want kids being brought to school over the river and through the woods, giving the kids an all terrain off road experience.