Saco School bus driver shortage causes pick up and drop off delays

SACO — Some students will experience delays of up to 15 minutes in their pick up and drop off times to school in the next few days, as the district faces a bus driver shortage.

In early December, Interim Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray advised parents that there might be times in the future when there wouldn’t be enough drivers to cover the normal bus route schedule. The school district also advertised open positions for school bus drivers, offering to cover the cost for training and testing for a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.

This morning (Tuesday), school officials posted that there would be delays in some routes over the next few days due to a continued bus driver shortage.

During this time, Bus 757 will not be in service, and students on this route will be picked up and dropped off by buses 703, 758 and 724. Pick up times are estimated to be impacted by 10-15 minutes and drop off times by 5-10 minutes.

Bus 753 will not be in service for the middle school and high school runs. Students will instead be picked up and dropped of by bus 714, 724 or 758. Pick up times are estimated to be impacted by 10-15 minutes and drop off times by 5-10 minutes.  

“We recognize that this is not ideal and presents challenges for families. If you prefer to transport your own child to or from school, please communicate with your child’s school,” said school officials in Tuesday’s Facebook post.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.