Even though it wasn’t an agenda topic for the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board at its Jan. 15 meeting, CUSD’s shortage of bus drivers was brought up more than once.
Districts nationwide have long struggled with the shortage of drivers, though Chandler seems to have it as bad as anyone. In addition to mounting parent complaints, one driver took to the podium to speak during public input.
“When I first started eight years ago, we had about 250 drivers,” the driver, who said his name is Gary, said during public input. “We down to about 150. I don’t know how many routes we’ve been forced to cancel permanently over the past several years. School districts aren’t just competing with each other; they’re competing with every agency and company that needs drivers with a commercial driver’s license.”
