TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) sent out an email to parents and staff on Wednesday to describe the situation they are in regarding the extreme staffing shortages of bus drivers. The email said, “Over the last several months, TCAPS has been faced with extreme staffing shortages. These shortages are impacting our childcare, facilities, and transportation departments. The district is in a dire situation due to bus driver shortages, and adjustments must be implemented in order to provide transportation services to as many students as possible.”

They explained that beginning on January 23rd, TCAPS will temporarily reduce high school transportation for both Central High School and West Senior High School in order to staff the bus routes for the elementary and middle schools who won’t see any changes – at least not for now.

For a while now, administrators and also staff from different shifts and even Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner have used their CDL skills to fill in for the bus driver shortages but it hasn’t been enough.

The Traverse City Ticker reports that TCAPS is short 15 bus drivers and that the administrators chose the date of January 23rd to begin the bussing schedule change because they wanted to wait until the exams were over.

TCAPS is asking families to consider other transportation options for the remainder of the school year including carpooling. Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) is also available to students at no cost when bussing isn’t available. Students only need to show their ID to ride the bus and TCAPS will reimburse BATA for the rides. Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner told The Ticker that “Additional communication will be sent related to BATA routes that are available to students in a separate communication based on the location of current bus stops.”

At Monday’s board meeting, the TCAPS trustees voted unanimously to waive the board policy pertaining to making changes to the district’s transportation through the end of the school system’s semester. This allows staff to make decisions about the bussing situation as quickly as needed.

TCAPS is actively recruiting bus drivers by offering a sign-on bonus of $1,000, starting salary of $21.00 to $23.75 per hour and what they call an “excellent bonus package” as well as flexible schedules.

TCAPS says that it remains hopeful that the staffing situation will improve and they plan to reevaluate the situation again over the next few months.

However, with an unemployment rate in Grand Traverse County at only 3.2% and “Now Hiring” signs all over Traverse City, it remains to be seen if the staff shortages will be solved by the end of the school year.