Weighing state of school bus driver shortage for Buffalo Public Schools

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - For the last several years, there has been a real problem for schools across the country: A shortage of bus drivers.

It was a serious issue for the Buffalo Public Schools at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the school year prior to last. But where does it stand now in Buffalo?

Sam Radford, co-chair of We The Parents of WNY, weighs in on where he believes things currently stand for the Buffalo Public Schools.

"We have improved from where we were three years ago, where we couldn't, you know, get everybody to school everyday on time, and we couldn't get kids home on time," said Radford with WBEN.

Radford attributes the improvement of the school bus response times to the three-bell system that was implemented at the beginning of the last school year, which gave schools staggered start times so buses could pick up students at different times for different schools.

"[The] much more improved three-bell schedule had a huge impact on that. So we've made progress, but we're still not all the way there," said Radford, who mentioned he is a part of the Western New York Education Equity Task Force, which has initiated a research project looking into seeing if the district's current bussing system is the optimal strategy going forward.

We reached out to the Buffalo Public Schools for comment, they provided us with the following statement:

"While there continues to be a national bus driver shortage, the district's three-tier bell system has improved coverage times and helped alleviate shortages by shortening the average length of time most students are on buses, covering bus routes, and using the full seven-hour instructional day to provide more equitable instruction and social engagement."

Radford also commends the work and communication of the BPS Superintendent, Dr. Tonja Williams, who will deliver her "State of the Schools" address this Wednesday at Buffalo State University.

"I'm going to be optimistic and assume we're going to continue to make progress, but again, there are realistic challenges. I mean, anybody who watched the last school board meeting knows there's a $200 million projected [school budget] deficit, and you know, all those things have an impact on what's happening with our children. So I'm looking forward to hearing from the superintendent tomorrow, but as of right now, I'm optimistic that things will get better," Radford added.