DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — In less than a week, students in the Douglas County School District will be heading back to the classroom for the 2023-2024 school year. Ahead of the first day, the district warned parents of rolling cancellations for school bus routes.
For parents and students, this means that each bus route will be on schedule for four weeks and off for one week.
Parents in Douglas County will start getting the cancellation schedule for their child's bus route soon from the district’s transportation office.
The district said the nationwide bus driver shortage was a key reason for the change. In Douglas County specifically, the district's superintendent said they're 104 drivers short.
Last year, district leadership canceled bus routes with little notice to families, so this year, they're taking a different approach.
This year, the district sent a survey to parents to help figure out the best solution and the rolling cancellations received the most selections. The district hopes this schedule will help them prevent full-scale cancellations, but they said there is always a chance that could still happen.
District leadership sympathizes with how this affects students and their families.
"I know this is really hard. As a mom who raised three young children when my husband and I were both working, it was constantly a juggle to try to figure out how to make sure everyone was at school, how to make sure everyone had what they need, how to make sure we keep our jobs. I completely understand what our families are facing, and I want them to know that we wouldn't be doing this if we had any other choice, and I want to thank them because our families have actually been incredible," Douglas County School District Superintendent Erin Kane said.
For parents who purchased their child an annual bus pass, they can expect a refund to offset the cost of the canceled bus rides.
Special education routes will continue as normal and will not be canceled.
