Anchorage, Fairbanks school districts short of bus drivers

Students return to school soon, and Alaska’s larger districts are facing a shortage of school bus drivers.

The Anchorage School District was short 75 bus drivers less than two weeks before classes begin on Aug. 18. The shortage could lead to some bus routes being suspended, the superintendent said.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District contractor was short bus drivers last month to cover 115 routes, and as of last week was advertising: “We need bus drivers and attendants!” The district last week announced reduced service when classes start Aug. 17.

The Fairbanks bus contractor was advertising a starting wage of $26.79 per hour for drivers, and offering to pay for commercial license training and pay new drivers while they are in training.

In Anchorage, it was not immediately clear which routes could be affected or how the district would decide where to suspend services, if needed. Bus services for special education students are not expected to be interrupted, Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said in a message to families Aug. 3.

“We are preparing ourselves for the reality that we may need to streamline operations to minimize disruption. In other words, there’s a real possibility we won’t be fully staffed in these positions on the first day of school,” Bryantt told the school board at its Aug. 2 meeting.

The Anchorage district generally operates with about 240 to 250 drivers but has struggled during the past few years to hire bus drivers amid a broader shortage of workers, an official said last year when the district enacted route suspensions because employees became ill with COVID-19 or were showing symptoms.

The Fairbanks district also suspended some routes last year due to a shortage of drivers.

The Anchorage district hopes to entice people to apply for the job by offering additional bonuses for new and existing employees — bus drivers will receive an extra $2,500 and bus attendants could receive up to $500 more for the first semester of the year, the district said in its message to families on Aug. 3.

Rob Holland, operations director at the Anchorage district, said the administration is discussing their options. One possibility could be to prioritize bus services for the youngest students, and the district could reduce the number of stops along bus routes, which would allow drivers to pick up more students on each trip.