TCS Facing Bus Driver Shortage As Coronavirus Cases Rise

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Tuscaloosa City Schools on Tuesday revealed that the school system's transportation department is currently experiencing unprecedented numbers of absences due to COVID-19 protocols, resulting in drivers running double and triple routes.

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The increased workload went into effect immediately and underscores a rise in new local cases as the pandemic continues to have an impact on the workforce. The news also comes amid a rise in not only new cases among TCS students and staff, but a local and nationwide surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

According to the latest numbers from the school system, 13 employee positives were identified as of Tuesday, with 49 employees currently in isolation after either testing positive or coming into contact with a positive case.

In addressing the employee shortage, TCS said some buses will be running late and many of them will be much more crowded than normal.

"Parents are encouraged to take their children to school for the remainder of this week if they can," TCS said in a statement. "We hope to have most of our employees back to work once we return from Thanksgiving break."

In terms of student cases, those numbers are also climbing. As of Tuesday, TCS reported 10 active student cases, while 211 are currently in isolation. This comes out to roughly 2% of the district's nearly 11,000 students.

Despite TCS starting the semester on a virtual learning format, due to its available technology and infrastructure, the system in late October returned to a four-day school week format for students who chose to do in-person instruction.

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