Students struggle to arrive to class on time due to bus driver shortage in Montgomery County
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System is aggressively hiring but still needs roughly 60 drivers to fill the required bus routes.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Parents in Clarksville are concerned about their kids getting to school so late, oftentimes missing full class periods.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) said adjusted bus routes due to a driver shortage are the cause.
To ensure all Montgomery County students have a ride to school, bus drivers have to run double routes, with the longest route being prioritized in the morning. The approach is reversed in the afternoons, with assignments based only on proximity and distance.
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CMCSS reported that staffing is improving, but admitted it is still short by about 60 drivers. This is a problem as the district reports its student enrollment has grown by 15% in the last five years. The county is responsible for transporting roughly 25,000 of its 40,000-plus students to 46 schools each day, according to a CMCSS spokesperson.
Chris Allen-Bey said he drives his daughters to school so they don’t have to worry about the bus delays, but other parents have told him they’ve been late for work because of the shortage.
“We don’t have as much issue where we are at, but I can only imagine,” Allen-Bey said. “My heart goes out to all of the parents who their children are going further distance.”
To combat the issue, CMCSS is actively working to recruit more drivers by raising the starting pay to more than $21 an hour, offering signing bonuses, and paid training.
CMCSS said it has enough buses to transport its students to their schools every morning, just not enough people to drive them, currently.
Anyone interested in driving a school bus for the Clarksville-Montgomery School System can find all the information, including how to apply, here.
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