Claymont leaders table transportation plan changes
DENNISON (WJER) (Feb. 15, 2023) – Claymont’s bus routes and pick-up radius are staying the same for now as officials brainstorm ways to attract new drivers.
Superintendent Brian Rentsch says the current transportation plan will remain in place for the time being, although they may have to make some adjustments in the future if the driver shortage the district has been experiencing continues.
“If we have too many people out driving bus and we don’t have enough subs, we’re going to have to be creative. Kids may be coming late to school and going home early just because we have a lack of drivers.”
School board members during their meeting Monday evening tabled a discussion about the possibility of double routing or increasing the walking radius around each building from one mile to two. That was after Transportation Director Eric Henry spoke about the potential impact of both options and said neither would get to the root of the problem.
“As Mr. Henry said last evening, it’s not necessarily the best decision for our district. It’s just that we have a lack of people who are able to drive bus at this point in time. If we would expand it to a two-mile radius for pickups and we still don’t have enough bus drivers, we still haven’t solved our problem.”
The board agreed to add better health insurance to the benefit package for full-time substitute drivers to make the position more enticing.