Without enough drivers, Olathe schools to cancel certain bus routes on ‘blackout’ days

Without enough bus drivers, the Olathe school district next month will begin eliminating routes on “blackout days,” requiring families to find alternative transportation on those days.

The district has previously warned families that its bus driver shortage has reached an “all-time high.” Last week, officials said there is a “substantial waitlist of families unable to receive transportation, as well as several buses that regularly arrive up to 30 minutes late for pick up/drop off, impacting instructional time.”

Now with an uptick in driver absences due to illness, district officials said in an email to families on Wednesday that it will begin implementing “rolling transportation blackouts” Jan. 5. Starting that day, the district will eliminate service for certain routes on specific days of the week.

Families on routes affected by the blackouts, the district said, will receive a 20% discount for their second semester bus fee.

“We recognize that a change to the transportation schedule is not ideal,” officials said. “However, it is a necessary step in order to be able to continue providing the most consistent service possible for our families. This short-term solution will provide a consistent schedule for families to plan around days they will receive bus service, and days they need to arrange alternative transportation.”

Last week, the district asked parents to submit input on a potential change to school day start and end times beginning next school year, as a “possible solution to help address nationwide K-12 transportation issues impacting Olathe Public Schools.”

The change could allow drivers to “complete additional routes in a more timely manner” by using a three-tier bus system.

Staffing issues in Kansas City area schools

Kansas City area districts have been working for months to attract and retain more bus drivers amid record shortages. Some districts eliminated routes at the start of the school year, and some have been so short on drivers that they have notified families at the last minute that their child’s bus was not going to come.

This summer, districts began recruiting drivers early, and offered higher pay and incentives.

School districts have also struggled with a shortage of other lower-paid employees, such as food workers, custodians and paraprofessionals — and like them, several bus drivers retired or quit during the pandemic. Many drivers lost their jobs when classes went online, and some didn’t return last year as COVID-19 cases spiked. Districts have struggled to find new licensed drivers during the ongoing national labor shortages.

“Locally and nationally, school districts are facing a bus driver shortage due to competition from other industries and drivers choosing not to return to the profession,” Olathe district officials said in a release last week.

“Many of our neighboring school districts have been forced to take steps with their transportation providers to address this challenge, from eliminating services and routes entirely to adjusting school start/end times. We know we will need to find a solution to provide timely and equitable transportation for our students.”

Olathe bus blackout schedule

Here is the schedule for route blackouts (only routes listed are affected):

Monday route outages:

▪ 502 California Trail Middle School

▪ 543 Manchester Park Elementary School

▪ 552 Mission Trail Middle School

▪ 579 Summit Trail Middle School and Ravenwood Elementary

▪ 605 Frontier Trail Middle School

▪ 627 Briarwood Elementary School

Tuesday outages:

▪ 537 Pioneer Trail Middle School and Indian Creek Elementary School

▪ 572 Summit Trail Middle School and Mahaffie Elementary School

▪ 630 Olathe East High School and Countryside Elementary School

▪ 633 Frontier Trail Middle School and Green Springs Elementary School

Wednesday outages:

▪ 557 Oregon Trail Middle School and Clearwater Creek Elementary School

▪ 558 California Trail Middle School and Regency Place Elementary School

▪ 583 Summit Trail Middle School and Westview Elementary School

▪ 591 Santa Fe Trail Middle School and Mahaffie Elementary School

Thursday outages:

▪ 597 Frontier Trail Middle School and Tomahawk Elementary School

▪ 599 Olathe North High School and Heatherstone Elementary School

▪ 635 Meadow Lane Elementary School

▪ 657 Santa Fe Trail Middle School

Friday outages:

▪ 525 Summit Trail Middle School and Ravenwood Elementary School

▪ 561 Pleasant Ridge Elementary School

▪ 562 Santa Fe Trail Middle School

▪ 570 Pioneer Trail Middle School

▪ 576 Walnut Grove Elementary School