School District 57’s new bus provider is encountering some staffing challenges as the new academic year completes its first week.
Several drivers tendered their resignations about 48 hours prior to the first day of class on Tuesday, leading to six routes being impacted.
Assistant Superintendent, Lee Karpenko told MyPGNow.com First Student Canada is working feverishly to shore up the problem.
“They are getting people to take their learner’s license as quickly as possible sending them to Williams Lake because the wait in Prince George is too long and they are bringing in bus drivers from other jurisdictions to support us while we are short-staffed.”
“We had about six routes that were affected on the first day and part of it was custom buses on the first day don’t usually run and haven’t for numerous years. So, that added some confusion to the community.”
Karpenko added driver shortages are nothing new.
“We had this issue last year when we had shortages with our previous bus company and we would have to cancel routes or merge routes together. We are working with First Student to merge routes together as they work on their staffing.”
“We have been working around the clock to minimize the disruption, change some practices to be able to try and get as many bus drivers on buses to get kids to school.”
Karpenko expects all bus routes to be functional and on time by Monday.
In June, the school board awarded the contract to First Student, ending its long-standing relationship with Diversified Transportation.
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