By JULIE DOW
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
At Tuesday’s Hamilton County Council budget meeting, one of the topics discussed was various departments’ struggles to hire and maintain staff in the current economy. At the local level, Carmel Clay Schools (CCS) is facing the same issue with a shortage of bus drivers.
Also on Tuesday, CCS announced a change to school start times because of a bus driver shortage.
In an email to parents, Carmel Clay Schools Superintendent Michael Beresford says the district is down by 30 to 40 drivers.
That means current drivers will have to handle three to four routes each day, instead of the normal two.
Also, bus transportation will not be offered to kids who live within a one-mile radius around each school building.
According to an email sent to parents, students on special needs or early childhood buses will not be impacted.
Elementary schools will be using what the district called “double routing,” where some students are picked up as much as an hour before the morning bell so that the driver can complete a second route. The process will be reversed at dismissal time. The superintendent in the email said no students would have to both arrive early and stay late.
The new bell times are:
- Elementary schools: 7:40 a.m. to 2:25 p.m.
- Middle schools: 8:25 a.m. to 3:25 p.m.
- High schools: 9:05 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.
Late start bell times are:
- Elementary schools: 8:20 a.m.
- Middle schools: 9:05 a.m.
- High schools: 9:45 a.m.