Speeding Into the Problems of Busing

Have you ever wondered what it was like to miss half of your first hour class because your mode of transportation is super unreliable? If you haven’t, then you probably don’t ride a bus to school. The South Bend School Corporation busing system has undergone major changes in the past few months and not all of these are beneficial. 

According to a source from the busing union, The South Bend School Corporation has lost 25 drivers since the beginning of the school year started. A big reason for that is that the drivers are sometimes not treated with respect. According to that same union representative, drivers were also promised things that didn’t come true, like having extra bus drivers available in case someone calls off. Other drivers are being forced to drive these routes and are threatened to get in trouble when they don’t. Drivers always have the option to turn down extra routes because of their union. 

The Three Tier system was designed to help out bus drivers, but it has seemed to cause more harm than good. The Three Tier System involves the new school start times have changed for this year: Elementary starts at 7:30 and ends at 2:30, middle school starts at 9:30 and ends at 4:30, and high school starts at 8:30 and ends at 3:30. This system was designed for bus drivers to be able to get more kids to school on time by having the students spread out by elementary, middle, and high school.

Since the school district is losing drivers, there aren’t enough of them to cover all of the routes that are needed to get kids home at a decent time and these kids are sometimes getting home an hour or two late from school. The Three Tier system is beneficial to bus drivers in a sense because the drivers are getting paid more because they’re getting more hours.

Katie Ring, a driver for the South Bend School Corporation and a SBCSC parent, gave her input on busing and what it’s like to be a driver. “I have an amazing boss who has gone above and beyond in many situations. However, downtown administration does not recognize bus drivers enough.” According to the union rep previously mentioned, district administration is a leading factor in why so many bus drivers have left the corporation to go somewhere else. ”The bus driver shortage is caused by the administration. Drivers do not have full respect from management.”

Since the beginning of the year, Ring has had to cover an extra route almost every day because of a bus driver that didn’t show up. Her routes change monthly when they’re supposed to be set for the year.

 Junior Derek Vondrak has had many issues with the busing system so far this year. “My bus changes one or 2 times a month. We only have about 15-20 students on our bus, but we get to school right at 8:30. We’ve only had 2 or 3 people added since the beginning of the year but we’ve had like one person dropped.

Another anonymous union representative gave great insight on how bus drivers aren’t respected. “On September 17, 2021, everyone in the corporation received a stipend of $1,500 with the exception of school bus drivers. We had to attend the September 20, 2021 school board meeting and let our voices be heard to obtain it. We will get it on October 1, 2021. We should have received it the same day as everyone else.” Why would bus drivers stay when some feel like they’re the last ones that the administration thinks about?

However, students getting to school late isn’t entirely the bus driver's fault. There are some lazy bus drivers who genuinely don’t care about their job, but the administration plays a huge part in why so many students are showing up late to school. According to the same union rep, drivers aren’t given adequate time between dropping off students at one school and starting their next route. “It is not the driver's fault for getting the students late to school. Many factors play into that such as traffic, construction, accidents, train delays or route is not up to date.” There’s no built in time for problems like these. 

Busing is a serious issue that needs to be looked at. It has caused stress on bus drivers and caused them to quit. It’s up to the SBCSC administration to help make the busing situation thrive once more, just like we know it can.