School Bus Driver Shortage Hits District 47

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — A shortage of school bus drivers, a trend that is affecting school districts throughout the U.S., is also hitting area schools hard.

District 47 and District 155 have had openings for bus drivers since last December.

"We, like other school districts, are being impacted by the national bus driver shortage and are particularly in need of paraprofessionals and lunch/playground supervisors," said Denise Barr, director of communications and public engagement for District 47. The school district is also looking to hire nurses, another position that has been hard to retain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The driver shortfall isn’t new, but a labor shortage across many sectors and the pandemic’s lingering effects have made it worse, since about half the workforce was over 65 and more vulnerable to the virus, said Joanna McFarland, co-founder and CEO of school ride-service company HopSkipDrive, which tracks school bus issues.

HopSkipDrive conducted a survey earlier this year, which found nearly 80 percent of districts that responded were struggling to hire bus drivers, according to an Associated Press article.

“It’s really at a breaking point,” McFarland said

Here is a look at all positions currently open within District 47:

• Dual Language/Bilingual/ELL Support (1)
• Dual Language/Bilingual/ELL Teaching (4)
• Elementary School Teaching (5)
• Lunch & Playground Supervisor (10)
• Middle School Teaching (1)
• Nurses (2)
• Operations (2)
• Paraprofessionals (23)
• Special Education (7)
• Student Services Therapists (2)
• Substitute Teacher (2)
• Support Substitute (2)
• Transportation (1)
• Tutors (2)

The Associated Press contributed to this article.