Maine has about 80 unfilled school bus driver positions across the state that officials say are contributing to lost instructional time, higher overtime costs for schools and cancellation of extracurricular activities.
Cheryl Brackett, transportation coordinator at the Maine Department of Education, said the shortfall of drivers is also affecting student attendance, which had already been a problem.
"If a school bus route is canceled, [a] parent may not have any transportation to get their child to school, or for school buses running late because they have to add some roads onto their own route because the driver's missing, it's going to make those children late to school sometimes," she said.
Brackett said the shortage is also affecting school staffing.
"Schools also need substitutes, because a lot of times transportation supervisors will go jump in a bus and drive the routes," she said.
Brackett said having supervisors fill in as drivers is a safety concern, because there is no one ready to respond to an emergency or disruption on any of the buses.
She said schools are trying to solve the problem by sharing drivers across districts, and even paying for the training and licensing of new drivers.
