BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Public School District is getting ready for the start of school and is working to finalize some big issues, including filling hundreds of positions from the classroom to bus drivers.
With less than three weeks to go until students return to class, hiring is still a big concern. At Wednesday night's school board meeting, they discussed creative ways to work around the bus driver shortage. The district laid out four proposals.
The first includes reimbursing parents for driving their kids to school, which would start in mid-November if approved. Another idea is to give families NFTA bus passes. The district is also looking at combining bus routes, which would eliminate the need for 10 to 15 drivers.
The fourth idea is creating an early morning program for all elementary schools.
Associate Superintendent for School Leadership Jon Gonzalez says every elementary school would open half an hour earlier. At the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Tonja Williams added that the school district is working to make sure that children have healthy snacks, staff supervision, and educational activities to do if there are delays and they have to wait after school for the bus.