BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Bonneville School District 93 Superintendent Scott Woolstenhulme announced Sunday the district does not have enough bus drivers to drive all the bus routes this week.

He said they are forced to suspend most bus routes for high school and middle school students until Tuesday, October 13.

You can read the full letter below.

Dear Families of Middle School and High School Students,

As we anticipated, our transportation department has been hit hard by the COVID-19 virus this week. Since the start of school, we have struggled to hire all of the bus drivers that we need, and now a number of drivers have become symptomatic, tested positive, or have been quarantined from close contact with another confirmed case. As a result, we do not have enough bus drivers to drive all of our bus routes this week.  We will be forced to suspend most bus routes for high school and middle school students until Tuesday, October 13th. The list of canceled routes is included on the next page. Also, we will cancel all buses to middle school and high schools on Monday, October 5th and Monday, October 12th. Elementary bus routes will run at their normally schedule times.

At this time, we still plan for all middle schools and high schools to start and end at their regularly scheduled times. The schedule for this week is include on page 3.  If your student typically rides a bus route that has been canceled, please try to arrange to bring them to school or have them carpool with friends or other families in your neighborhood. If your children do share rides to school, please encourage them to wear masks while they are riding together, just as they would on a school bus. We will still be able to provide transportation for students in the DRR, ERR, and Discovery Special Education programs who have transportation included in their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).

If your children cannot find alternative transportation to school, they may participate in learning online through either Google Classroom or Schoology. Teachers should have communicated which platform they are using for instruction. If you have not received this information, please email your childrens’ teachers to request it or call the school to talk with the teacher directly.

I sincerely apologize for the hardship this places on our families and students. When we made the decision to reopen school for face to face instruction, I was very concerned about how it would impact transportation. I am afraid this will continue to be an issue until we have more applicants for our job openings or until a vaccine is developed for COVID. If you know of anyone who would be interested in applying for these positions, please direct them to www.d93jobs.com.

Thank you for your understanding and support through these challenging times.

Sincerely,

Dr. Scott Woolstenhulme, Superintendent
Bonneville Joint School District 93

Bus routes canceled from Oct. 5th - Oct. 12th

You can view more HERE.