Seattle Public Schools families struggle with ongoing bus delays

Some Seattle Public Schools parents are still waking up to news that their students’ school bus is delayed.

SEATTLE – The nationwide shortage of bus drivers continues to affect families in the Seattle Public Schools district, with some bus routes experiencing up to two hours of delays.

Dawn Adams has three children in the district and said she understands the driver shortage. Her older child, who is now in middle school, had bus delays in 2019 when the district also faced staffing issues.

Adams said the shortage appeared to be greater with no end in sight.

“I’m tired of taking the same shots every night,” said Adams. “I would prefer you just give me an update instead of reminding me every day that I don’t have a school bus for my child.”

Adams joins other parents who said they are not happy with communications from the district.

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Victoria Burwell’s son, in third grade at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, said she still doesn’t get any text messages or emails despite calling the bus company several times to check that they have the correct contact information.

“I have nowhere to look for updates,” said Burwell. “Well, since that was a mess in the morning and I have no idea what to rely on, I only took it with me in the morning, which means I’ll just be late for work.”

Burwell said that while she also understands the driver shortage, she would like the district to find more creative solutions to addressing the problem.

“It’s third week of school, I don’t know? It would be great to be in a routine at this point,” she said.

Meanwhile, Adams pointed to other cities in the country who suggested calling in the National Guard for help.

Seattle Public Schools said it was unclear how many students were affected by the delays as not every student takes the bus every day.

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In an email statement, the district said they were looking for solutions like providing a shuttle van service.

The full explanation is:

“Seattle Public Schools continue to work to improve the delivery of transportation services to students.

“The single biggest factor affecting on-time performance is the lack of drivers at our transportation service provider First Student. This shortage is found in virtually all school districts across the country. Many other sectors of the transport industry have to contend with personnel challenges.

“A cross-departmental group at SPS met to analyze transportation performance and factors that affect the delivery of services. The goal is to explore solutions that have a positive impact on SPS ‘transportation services. Some options include, but are not limited to:

  • Provision of a shuttle van service
  • Adjust / combine routes to reduce delays
  • Use the extension of the ORCA card (Metro)

“For families who have a delayed route, we will notify you as soon as possible. For those families who are expecting a warning but have not received any messages from our transportation department, we urge you to contact your school about make sure they have the correct, updated information.

“We continue to ask families to be patient as we work to improve bus service.”