WAUKESHA, Wis. — Bus issues in the Waukesha School District this school year. Many parents had to scramble to get their children to and from school. This after many bus routes were changed or canceled because of a shortage of bus drivers.
For some students in Waukesha, Highway 59 lies between their homes and their schools. The recent issues with bus route changes and cancellations could cause some students to have to walk across this heavily traveled highway.
“It's a pretty far walk. It's pretty far across highways, it’s quite a distance from where we live,” explained Melanie Townsend.
Townsend is a mom of three. Her oldest started sixth grade today at Les Paul Middle School. She says walking is not an option for her daughter.
Students who live less than two miles from school may not be eligible to take the bus. Although Townsend says she was told her daughter qualifies to take the bus. The ongoing driver shortage changed those plans. "My sixth grader was at the bus stop, and even though I looked in multiple places, the only clear communication that I had, that anyone was impacted by the low bus drivers was notified."
Her daughter waited for a bus this morning that never came. Townsend later found an email from the school’s transportation company buried in her junk mail. She says she was confused by the school app, Infinite Campus as well.
"I thought that would be a valid place to look. And I was concerned, I was kind of on edge, that's why I was watching her, that's when I was catching on when no one was showing up.”
The school district tells me that the app should have indicated that her daughter's route was canceled. They say the transportation dashboard on the website is updated as well.
"I feel like we get so many things, that either text, email, phone all at once, and maybe this could have been something that could have been one of those things where we put it in more than one spot,” Townsend said.
She said it all worked out, and she was able to get her daughter to the first day on time. But she says it’s going to be a challenge moving forward.
"For me it's also having younger kids that also have to get ready in the morning and then, dropping her off and bringing her back."
The district says it will be working with the bus company, First Student, each day until these busing issues are resolved.
The school district is looking for drivers to cover all the routes. The application can be found here.
The School District of Waukesha provided the following statement:
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