Both Charlottesville City Schools and Albemarle County Public Schools kicked off their school years without bus waitlists.
Every kid in the city and county who asked for a bus seat was offered one, a feat that’s taken both school divisions years to achieve, according to Charlottesville City Schools and a CBS19 report.
“The city currently has enough drivers to meet the bus requests of eligible riders, but they are looking for more drivers and bus monitors,” said Beth Cheuk, spokesperson for City Schools.
Both school systems struggled with hiring and retaining bus drivers for years. Last year, Albemarle schools sent about 1,000 parents into a frenzy when it alerted them that their children would not have a seat on a bus two weeks before the first day of school. City Schools started off the 2023-2024 school year with a waitlist of 250 students, but found a seat for each student by January. Albemarle worked through its waitlist by November, but there were still students who were arriving at school late.
One way both school divisions lowered the number of students on the waitlist was through adding walk zones, or having students who lived within a certain distance from their school walk, bike or find alternative ways to get to school, according to the City Schools and Albemarle School websites. Students who live within the walk zones are automatically denied a bus seat, unless the student has a disability, or, if they’re an Albemarle student, do not have a safe walking path to school.
Charlottesville has had this system for years and it’s here to stay, said Cheuk. Albemarle did not respond to comment on whether it still had walk zones, or if the zones have changed since the previous school year.
When asked about how many bus drivers were currently staffed, both Albemarle Schools and Charlottesville Area Transportation — which is separate from the district but runs pupil transport for City Schools — did not respond for comment in time of publishing.
Both school districts are still looking to hire bus drivers, according to job postings from both school systems. Those interested in applying to Charlottesville City Schools can apply through the city, and those interested in Albemarle County can apply through its website.
City Schools started school on Wednesday, Aug. 14, and county schools opened a week later on Wednesday, Aug 21.
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More about the local school bus driver shortage
Bus drivers were already in short supply in Albemarle when Omicron hit. Now, the school division is struggling to pick up children
“You can’t strand my kid and not tell me,” said Albemarle County Public Schools parent Amanda Urban.
City Schools is working to take over its bus system from Charlottesville Area Transit as the driver shortage persists
The move would give the district more freedom to make changes to entice drivers, and give them school district benefits.
Just weeks before the school year begins, 1,000 Albemarle County children are booted from bus routes
Albemarle officials are slow to answer questions about its driver shortage, but former school bus drivers are beginning to speak out.
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