![]() ![]() “We know that makes them more susceptible to contracting COVID, as well as experiencing more symptoms for a longer amount of time,” she said. Unfortunately, Contreras said that district data indicates bus drivers are the employee group with the lowest vaccination rate. North Carolina is breaking records in daily totals for infections, and illness is hitting those who are unvaccinated particularly hard. The new year brought a surge in a new COVID-19 variant: Omicron. But over the next two weeks, Contreras said the situation is going to get worse. The stopgap worked, and the district was able to get everyone to school. The district delayed middle schools by one hour and high schools by 90 minutes. “But we knew it was too late to do that to parents or to students.”Ĭontreras decided that school would have to start late the next day to accommodate the absences and vacancies. “We realized we wouldn’t be able to provide transportation … for all students,” she said. Those combined with the absences anticipated for the next day put the district in a dire position. The district already had a large number of bus driver vacancies. ![]() So, last Thursday night, as the driver absence numbers rolled in, Contreras realized there was a problem. But even so, it’s hard to know the situation for the next day of school until late at night. Superintendent Sharon Contreras says her district monitors data on both teacher and bus driver absences multiple times throughout the day and evening now. But since the pandemic began, district leaders have been particularly cognizant of the need to monitor their transportation resources. Guilford County Schools was dealing with a bus driver shortage long before COVID-19 hit in 2020. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. ![]()
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