![]() ![]() New Britain-based DATTCO, one of the largest contractors in the state, was advertising 111 part- and full-time school bus driving jobs as of Friday. “We really need you, starting with the bus drivers.”īus companies laid off hundreds of drivers when schools shut down in the early months of the pandemic last year, and getting them back has been difficult. “And we still are paying $1,000 to take a job, so I’m doing everything I can to have those who are hesitant about getting back in the workforce,” Lamont said. The federal $300-a-week unemployment bonus benefits ended Saturday, he noted. Kids are wearing masks,” said Lamont, who has mandated masks for teachers, staff, students and bus drivers inside all schools and buses. “There’s some COVID hesitancy (among drivers), and we have to convince people it’s safe to do it. Ned Lamont said Connecticut is doing all it can to address the shortage, which has been blamed alternately on the pandemic and extended unemployment benefits. “While the driver shortage is impacting Bloomfield, all bus runs were completed bringing over 1,500 students to Bloomfield public schools for our first day of school on Thursday.” “The shortage of drivers is a serious concern,” said William Guzman, chief operations officer for the Bloomfield schools. ![]() We’ll return to the original route schedule as soon as that new driver is hired,” he said. “Our contractor was short one driver for the first day of school yesterday, but we were able to combine two routes to ensure that students were picked up. “While the past year has been particularly difficult hiring and retaining quality drivers, WPS and Autumn Transportation have been fortunate to experience continuity with no disruption to students,” Wethersfield Superintendent Michael Emmett said. Some Connecticut schools suffered virtually no trouble. Chicago is offering cash to thousands of parents to get their children to and from school, and Pittsburgh shifted the first day of school for hundreds of students to buy time to add more drivers. Many school systems hurriedly shifted or combined routes last week, but so far the state has avoided the sort of crisis that hit major cities. So far, there has been just one highly publicized busing meltdown: Several hundred Hamden students were stranded on the first day of class when First Student announced a flurry of drivers had quit late in the summer.įirst Student transferred drivers from other locations, and a number of local livery companies pitched in to help, and busing was back to normal by late in the week. The nationwide shortage of school bus drivers hit Connecticut in this back-to-school season, with many school districts and their bus contractors scrambling to fill open slots. Driving a school bus in Glastonbury is worth a $1,500 bonus this month, $3,000 in Durham or $4,000 in West Hartford.īus depots around the state have prominent “Hiring” and “Drivers Wanted” signs outside, and online employment sites list bus driver positions in dozens of communities. ![]()
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