The Fox C-6 School District is unable to provide bus service for 1,031 students this school year. Students started school on Wednesday.
Fox announced on Aug. 18 that it would have some no-transportation zones, meaning students who live within a certain distance from the school they attend would not be provided with bus transportation.
“Fox C-6, like many school districts in our area and across the country, continues to experience an unprecedented workforce shortage, especially with bus drivers,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said in a letter to families announcing the no-transportation zones. “Despite aggressively working to hire and retain drivers, we have been unable to fill all of our openings in the transportation department. As we approach the first day of school, we have approximately seven fewer bus drivers than we had at the beginning of the last school year.”
Fox officials said the district started this school year with 63 full-time bus drivers and eight part-time bus drivers. The district is expected to have 10,811 students this school year.
“The decision to limit bus service is not based on the district’s finances,” Fregeau said. “Fox C-6 has funds budgeted and the school buses needed to provide transportation. We just do not have enough drivers. This is the unfortunate reality facing other schools in our area and school districts across the country.”
Despite the fewer number of bus drivers this school year, the number of students who won’t be provided bus transportation decreased by more than half of those who were not offered bus transportation last school year.
The district didn’t provide bus service to 2,116 students during the 2022-2023 school year, the district reported in August 2022.
This school year the district is able to provide bus services for 6,267 students who requested transportation services, Fox officials said.
Schools affected by the no-transportation zones include Fox, Guffey, Lone Dell, Rockport Heights, Seckman, Sherwood and Simpson elementary schools; Antonia, Fox and Seckman middle schools; and Fox and Seckman high schools.
All students at Antonia, Clyde Hamrick, Hodge and Meramec Heights elementary schools and Ridgewood Middle School are being provided bus service.
Fox also adjusted the starting and dismissal times for four of its elementary schools in order to provide more students bus service.
Fox and Rockport Heights elementary schools will begin the school day at 7:40 a.m., and students will be dismissed at 2:40 p.m.
Sherwood and Simpson elementary schools will begin the school day at 8:10 a.m., and students will be dismissed at 3:10 p.m.
“Those times were adjusted to allow more students to receive bus transportation,” district officials said. “By adjusting those start times by a few minutes, we are able to pick up additional students.”
As part of its efforts to recruit more bus drivers, the Fox district slightly increased the hourly pay for bus drivers at the start of this fiscal year, which began July 1 and runs through June 30, 2024. Bus drivers, along with all Fox support staff employees, received an 85-cent-per-hour raise.
Fox is now paying $17.65 per hour for a first-year bus driver after paying $16.80 per hour last year. Depending on experience, a bus driver may be paid up to $23.24 per hour.
The district plans to hold recruiting events that will allow bus driver candidates to test drive a bus and apply for the position, officials said.
“Additionally, we will use a variety of advertising methods, including social media, signage and cold-call visits to potential driver gatherings,” said Gary Cross, director of transportation. “Fox also offers a recruitment stipend for onboarding new hires, including bus drivers.”
Fox has posted boundary maps with no-transportation zones highlighted in purple on the transportation page of the district’s website, foxc6.org.