NYC's school bus staffing shortages hurt students with special needs, advocates say

School busing problems continue to be exacerbated by the pandemic this school year, some New York City parents say, pointing to staff shortages and confusion over routes and schedules.

While shortages of drivers and staffers to work on yellow school buses were an issue long before the pandemic, problems have mounted in the past two years as hybrid learning has complicated schedules and low pay caused employees to leave, said Sara Catalinotto, founder of the Parents to Improve School Transportation advocacy group at a virtual rally Friday.

The group has launched a campaign to improve bus services, increase bus driver pay and implement better pandemic control measures, with a planned march on City Hall next month.

The staffing shortage had grown so dire by last September, that Governor Kathy Hochul launched an outreach program to more than 550,000 holders of commercial driver's licenses to recruit more drivers for school districts across the state.

Read more: https://gothamist.com/news/nycs-school-bus-staffing-shortages-hurt-students-special-needs-advocates-say