Baldwin County schools short 9 bus drivers as families face delays

The district is rotating delayed routes and considering staggered start times next year as it works to fill the openings.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Baldwin County parents are dealing with school bus delays, with nine driver positions still unfilled. 

Baldwin County deputy superintendent Dr. Rodney Tyson says the county didn’t anticipate this issue for this school year. He says the county is working overtime to solve the issue.  

Dr. Tyson says the district is currently short nine to ten drivers after several drivers left over the summer. He says the shortage is putting pressure on school transportation, but filling those positions will take time. Georgia has a lengthy certification and hiring process for school bus drivers, meaning the district cannot fill the openings overnight.  

“Just before school started, we had several bus drivers that were no longer eligible to drive buses due to not meeting state requirements for bus drivers anymore,” he said. “We also had several drivers that left the district for other districts for various reasons.”

Dr. Tyson says the district made a major recruitment push before the school year ended, making the driver shortage a surprise.  

“We hired new bus drivers into the summer,” he said. “We got them trained, but the number of drivers we lost outweighed the ones we had trained coming into our system.”

He says the district rotates routes each day, so the same students aren’t consistently late getting to school or home.  

“We start all our schools the same time each day,” he said. “But the new instruction is not starting immediately. We’re doing a review and some warmup drills to give those children that are arriving on late buses the opportunity to get some breakfast, and when they get into the classroom, they’re not missing any new instruction from being on a late bus.”

For updates and details on bus routes, visit the district’s transportation department on Facebook.

Dr. Tyson says the county is currently hiring for bus drivers, and the district is considering staggered start times next year, which would allow drivers to run two full routes.