La Grange D-102 Bus Service 'Chaotic'

La Grange IL

30 August, 2021

4:46 PM

Description

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange School District 102 is not sugarcoating its bus situation this school year, calling it "chaotic." In a public statement Friday, Assistant Superintendent Tonisha Sibley blamed a nationwide bus driver shortage. Because of this, she said, students are seeing 20 to 30-minute delays in bus pickups and drop-offs. Some students also have been rerouted and combined to different routes or buses when there are no available drivers for specific routes, she said. "While we know and recognize that this is an unfair inconvenience, we ask for your patience and understanding with the district and the bus company as we work to resolve these issues," Sibley said in the statement. "It will take a little time to do so. If transporting your child(ren) is a viable option, we ask that you do so. We anticipate that the bus situation should improve within the first few weeks of school." Patch obtained a later email exchange between Sibley and a parent, who suggested the school district's bus contractor, First Student, be found in breach of contract. In response, Sibley said she, too, would be upset if her student were waiting that long for the bus. "I would like to say in all fairness that we are returning to full-day instruction after an almost two-year hiatus due to a pandemic. This will mean some unforeseen adjustments and unfortunately these could occur without a lot of advance notice," Sibley said. Over the summer, she said, First Student held several recruitment events. Other companies are facing similar struggles, she said. "First Student still accommodates the district by trying to cover all of the routes, even with the driver shortage, and while serving our neighboring school districts like the Pleasantdale SD 107 and Lyons Township H.S. districts," Sibley said. "Right now, the plan is to give them a brief amount of time to figure out a workaround for the driver shortage. They have been finding people on short notice to cover routes, so they are trying as best they can to fix the issue." Other solutions for the long run, Sibley said, are to combine and reduce routes if the driver shortage persists. Or she said the district could start a split schedule, with some routes having to run earlier to accommodate the number of drivers available. Another of Sibley's proposals: Reduce parents' transportation fees if they choose to temporarily take their children to school. "We will continue to monitor the bus issue and see if progress is being made over the next week of school. If we see that the bus issue has not gotten better, then the solutions I mentioned above will be enacted," she said. "Please be as patient and reasonable as you can during this difficult situation. I cannot honestly say that things will be perfect, but they will get better."