Bus Driver Strike Slows Transportation At Dozens Of Anne Arundel County Schools: Reports

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Multiple Annapolis Bus Company drivers went on strike Monday morning and refused to operate their routes for Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Eye On Annapolis broke the story, noting that the school system is working on a solution.

"This is an issue between Annapolis Bus Co. and its drivers and our students and their families are unfortunately caught in the middle," AACPS spokesperson Bob Mosier told Patch in an email. "What has been a frustrating year in terms of transportation was made even more so today, with our children ... bearing the brunt of a labor dispute."

The Annapolis Bus Company is a member of Student Transportation of America. That conglomerate confirmed its personnel troubles to Patch.

"STA understands the importance of maintaining operational readiness – especially as transportation providers across the industry are already facing a nationwide bus driver shortage due to the challenges brought on by the pandemic," stated company spokesperson Jen Holzapfel. "We are doing our best to mitigate the impact on the community and hope to resolve this matter quickly."

Anne Arundel County is not alone in its difficulties. Schools across Maryland have faced frequent bus disruptions as they struggled to find drivers this year. Without reliable transportation, parents have scrambled to find rides to school.

"Every day it is like going to the casino on whether your child will have a school bus picking them up," AACPS parent Barbara Helliwell wrote to Patch. "I believe, as parents, we have been very patient and have pitched in to get our kids to school but it is now October and we still do not have a consistent school bus pick up."

AACPS posts a daily list of all the affected routes at aacps.org/buses. Monday's update showed that 40 buses canceled at least some service. Another five reported routes delays of less than 20 minutes.

The affected schools were concentrated in the Annapolis area. Some cancellations continued around Edgewater, Davidsonville, Crofton, Odenton and Severn.

The Annapolis Bus Company is just one of the contractors that serve AACPS. Other buses run in different parts of the county.

"While Anne Arundel County government does not manage the contracts with the school bus companies, I refuse to ignore the driver shortage problem," Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said in a press release. "The disruption to our parents and kids is too much to accept."

The county executive mentioned that he discussed the dilemma with AACPS Superintendent George Arlotto, Gov. Larry Hogan and other local officials. Pittman added that he also met twice with the school system's bus contractors. Their most recent chat came last Thursday.

Pittman wants to use federal money allocated to the county or AACPS to pay drivers more. He hopes this will entice and retain more employees.

"These jobs don’t attract enough applicants because they don’t pay enough," Pittman continued. "Drivers, please know that your employers are also advocating for more funds in their contracts to pay you more."

Pittman is organizing a virtual roundtable with drivers. He plans to livestream the talk on his social media pages. Drivers interested in participating can email countyexecutive@aacounty.org.

AACPS is actively recruiting new drivers. Anybody with the appropriate commercial driver's license can apply by calling (410) 222-6964.

"Know that parents and kids appreciate what you do," Pittman told school bus drivers. "We need you. We don’t want to lose you. We will fix this. "

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