In Oswego-based School District 308, in-person classes were not held Tuesday for high school and junior high school students due to a “large number of bus driver absences.”
Elementary classes were held in-person as normal, district officials said.
District officials in an early Tuesday morning message informed families that the district “cannot accommodate transportation for all students,” School District 308 Director of Communications Theresa Komitas said.
In an email response to questions from The Beacon-News Tuesday afternoon, she said 33 bus drivers were absent on Tuesday, with 24 having called in sick. In addition, 15 bus monitors also called in to say they wouldn’t be able to work Tuesday.
Komitas said that amounted to “roughly 30% of our drivers.”
As far as the large number of drivers who called off from work, she said the district doesn’t “have a definitive answer to why at this time.”
If a shortage of drivers continues, she said the district is “building an alternate plan of how to bring as much in-person learning time to students as possible.”
The normal schedule for classes on Tuesday was changed to remote learning for junior high and high school students and several of the district’s educational programs.
Students were instructed to log into their Google classroom for each class at its normal time. Teachers posted Google meet links in their Google classrooms so that instruction and interaction could still occur, according to the message from the district.
Staff members were still told to report to school.
Elementary schools were open for in-person attendance at normal times and there was bus service for those students, according to the district, however families were informed to expect “large delays.”
The bus driver shortage impacted Early Learning programs in the district as well. Early Learning classes were canceled for Tuesday, except for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program.
Out of District Placement students who attend school out of district were still scheduled to attend as normal with transportation not impacted Tuesday.
East View Academy junior high and high school student instruction was set to be remote on Tuesday. Elementary instruction for the academy was in-person and buses were set to run for those students, officials said.
The district’s GOAL program and Transition/Pathways Program were also scheduled to have remote learning only on Tuesday.
Since the start of the school year, districts around the country, including several in the Aurora area, have reported a shortage of bus drivers.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
