On Friday, October 21, over 300 East students were nearly two hours late to their classes.
They were only able to be taken to school after the middle schoolers were dropped off, around 8:30 in the morning. This is D303’s bus driver shortage in full view.
Mr. Andrew Johnson, who teaches, among other things, The Legal System class here at East, talked to us about how the lack of drivers has affected school field trips.
He said that in years past, he would take his students to the Kane County Courthouse to watch a trial, something it looks like won’t be happening this year.
“It’s disappointing we can’t go this year due to the shortage,” he explained, “especially for new students, since we get to see in real life the defendants, judges, attorneys, all in action. And we aren’t the only class. That’s a lot of students who are, unfortunately, deprived of this experience.”
The district has been working hard to remedy this for some time now. Mr. Scott Harvey, D303’s Chief Communications Officer, had some insight into the district’s attempts to correct the shortage.
“We’ve […] heavily promoted these jobs on our social media channels, online job boards, and in print materials such as flyers that are displayed at local businesses.”
X-ray has reached out to the district for further information that will be included in X-Ray’s next issue.