LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If your child is a student at an Oldham County School, you may have noticed them getting home later than usual, or even spending some extra time at the bus stop in the morning.
That’s due to the county facing a shortage of bus drivers. There are 11 routes without regular drivers right now, causing some fo the current staff to double-up on routes.
Robin Yahl has been greeting Oldham County students at the bus stop for the last seven years. It’s a job she loves, because she said she gets the chance to positively impact their day.
"You're the first person they see in the morning and so a lot of times you're going to make or break it,” Yahl said.
Yahl has been driving double routes since about the end of the year. Some days, she could even drive up to 130 miles in one day alone with the double routes.
After she picks up and drops off the students from her regular route, she has to go back and pick up kids from a different route.
"You don't know that route, you don't know those children so it makes it a little more difficult,” Yahl said.
She added that some days she’s not able to drop off kids until after five o’clock, something she said affects the drivers, the schools, and all of the families.
"We understand that it causes some inconvenience in the morning as well as the afternoon and we certainly apologize for that,” Lori McDowell said.
McDowell, communications director for Oldham County Schools, said a number of reasons have led to the shortage of drivers, including drivers who retired at the end of 2018, and many calling out for medical reasons right now.
"We have 10 substitute drivers but once you add in the absences due to cold and flu that's not enough to cover all of those routes,” McDowell said.
Although, she said it isn’t unusual. She said it’s an issue facing the entire state and nation, especially with a good economy right now leading many to not apply for the open positions.
The good news is that Oldham Co. Schools has five new drivers starting training at the end of the month. Training lasts at least 22 days, so it will still take some time for the routes to go back to normal.
McDowell said they are doing what they can to fill the gaps in the meantime, including recruiting constantly and bumping up pay for drivers.