Bus Driver Shortage Forces New Start Times For Toms River Schools

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An increasing shortage of bus drivers has forced the Toms River Regional School District to change start times for five of its schools for the fall.

The five affected schools are Intermediate North, Intermediate South, Joseph A. Citta Elementary, Pine Beach Elementary and Beachwood Elementary.

Interim Superintendent Thomas Gialanella said the district was forced to make the changes because the situation with bus drivers is dire, an issue that was raised during the school board's June committee meeetings.

"At the June meeting we spoke about if we did not recruit more drivers we would have to adjust our transportation routes in order to provide transportation to our school community. Our situation has gotten worse since then," Gialanella said Friday in an email to Patch.

The district is short 29 full-time drivers and 20 substitute drivers, he said in a letter to parents that was emailed Friday but leaked to the public on Thursday.

"We have recruited some drivers but more have retired over the summer," Gialanella said in his email to Patch. While finding new drivers helps, it takes nearly four months to get new drivers hired because of the state regulations and testing that must be done, he said.

Gialanella said the administration has been working with the transportation department to work out the route changes needed to adjust to the driver shortage while minimizing the changes, "knowing that these changes will cause some staff and families hardships."

The bus driver shortage isn't simply a Toms River issue; nationwide there are school districts wrestling with the problem of staffing school bus routes. An EdWeek report said districts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Missouri, just to name a few, were reducing the number of bus routes, changing school start times and that there still were students without transportation.

The issue in many places is a combination of low wages and health concerns as a result of the pandemic, the EdWeek report said.

"These changes are not something we want to do," Gialanella said, "but changes we have to do in order to safely transport our students."

Toms River, which owns its own bus fleet, has operated with a four-tier schedule for many years, and is considered one of the most efficient districts with regard to transportation in the state.

For Intermediate North students and staff, school now will begin at 7:55 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m., as that school is moved to the second busing tier. Intermediate North had been in the first tier, with a 7:15 a.m. start time.

Intermediate South classes will start at 8:40 a.m., nearly an hour later than the 7:55 a.m. start time they had for the 2020-21 school year. The school day ends at 3 p.m.

Joseph A. Citta Elementary, which started at 9:25 a.m. for 2020-21, will start nearly an hour earlier at 8:40 a.m.; the school day will end at 2:50 p.m.

Pine Beach Elementary and Beachwood Elementary both are moving from an 8:40 a.m. start to the 9:25 a.m. start, with a 3:35 p.m. end of the school day.

Gialanella acknowledged the time changes may be a hardship for staff and students' families, and said the district will continue to work with the Ocean County YMCA to help provide after school programs such as YKids for families who need child care.

Gialanella said staff members or families with concerns should contact the principal in their building.

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