PERRYVILLE – Perry County School District No. 32 has declared a District State of Emergency due to a critical shortage of school bus drivers. The announcement was made in a letter to parents from Deputy Superintendent Dr. Fara Jones.
Dear Parents,
It is no secret that the district has struggled with a critical shortage of bus drivers, which is affecting schools nationwide. We have had to ask our students to make numerous sacrifices recently, including canceling morning and afternoon bus routes, having students wait for 30-45 minutes after school before boarding a bus for the ride home, arriving to school late so bus drivers can run multiple morning routes, and often not having buses available to transport our students to athletic events and other extracurricular activities.
Perry County students deserve better.
Therefore, we’ve declared a District State of Emergency to address these shortcomings. District administrators have joined board members and bus drivers in a series of meetings to examine every aspect of this crisis, and we are working to develop a comprehensive plan to create fewer but more efficient bus routes for the number of drivers we currently have available.
Our goals are simple:
- To provide our student riders with safe transportation to and from school and to all extracurricular activities
- Ensure that bus stops are safe places for students
- Keep ride time as low as possible for students
- Reduce the number of students who have morning and afternoon bus delays
- Recognize the great responsibility that our bus drivers play in the education of our students
- Ensure that all support services (cafeteria, supervision, etc.) are in place to make the new plan sustainable
- Conduct a coordinated recruitment campaign to hire new bus drivers
- Provide regular communication to our families throughout this process
On Wednesday, our team will meet again to begin building new bus routes to better serve your family. I am asking for your support and patience as we tackle this daunting task. I haven’t been in Perryville long, but I have already seen that few things are impossible when this community unites behind a common goal. And what better goal to share than improving daily life for our children?
Sincerely,
Dr. Fara Jones
Deputy Superintendent