A sentiment shared across the country is the need for bus drivers, a sentiment quite prevalent in the Mentor Exempted School District right now, as the school district had to utilize a calamity day on September 30, 2025, due to a lack of bus drivers. The shortage of bus drivers has become a nationwide issue, with the number of employees decreasing annually, with a large drop after the COVID pandemic.

Jacqueline “Jacki” Sturm, the Director of Safety and Transportation for Mentor, stated to Cardinal Nation, “We started the year short on drivers and then had four drivers go out on extended leave. On that particular morning, we also had several last-minute call-ins just before 5 a.m., which left us with eight routes that could not be safely covered, even with all office staff, one of our mechanics, and our Fleet Maintenance Supervisor behind the wheel.”

Shortage of Bus Drivers a National Issue

According to a study done by the National Conference of State Legislatures, “92% of education and transportation staff faced busdriver shortages.” These shortages can be due to many reasons, such as low pay, the working hours, high stress, and an overall lack of interest in the profession. Ironically, these shortages cause an insurmountable pressure on current bus drivers, and, in some cases, cause them to quit, increasing the nationwide shortage and the difficulty of rectifying the issue. 

These shortages prove to be extremely consequential to districts as a whole, leading to unease and uncertainty in the district affecting not only morning and afternoon routes but also field trips and extracurricular activities that require additional busing. 

The shortage brings challenges for administrators, the transportation department coordinators, students, parents, teachers, and the remaining bus drivers. With the shortage, the strenuous conditions are forced upon the remaining bus drivers because they now have to pick up the slack with route combinations, additional routes, a nonstop day that requires extra effort, and sometimes  with inadequate compensation. 

Specifics in Mentor

In Mentor, we experienced a severe bus driver shortage that left the district, unfortunately, closed. The district has had to enact policies that limit transportation during certain times for field trips due to the shortage. Field trips are now only allowed to occur during the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to avoid needing buses during morning or afternoon routes. This severely impacts extracurricular activities that require busing to get to certain events at times outside of our new policy. While losing opportunities for students is never the goal of administration, this is, unfortunately, a danger.

As a community, we need to work together to make sure that bus drivers feel supported and appreciated because this is an issue affecting the entire community. 

Solutions

Mentor has attempted to rectify this issue through a few varying manners. One of which was to host a “Drive a Bus” event at MHS to attract bus drivers to the Mentor district. This event did not attract as many drivers as Mentor originally hoped, but it was still a way for the community to see the steps the district has tried to take to solve the shortage. But the largest attraction to the issue came from the event on September 30, which drew significant attention to the district, not in a negative way but in a surprisingly positive and reformative manner.

Since this incident, the Mentor district has experienced an influx of drivers and has partnered with LakeTran to provide coverage for two routes. LakeTran partnered with the Mentor district to provide two special education routes with coverage. This partnership allows the district to have more reliable transportation for select routes in hopes that an incident like this does not occur again. 

Sturm said, “The good news is that the attention that day brought some positive outcomes. We received 17 new applicants soon after, and while only one applicant already had a CDL, we are actively training several of the others who were hired through our interview process.”

Results

Since September 30, there has been a drastic change in attitude in the community towards the transportation department.

Parents and community members have proactively and helpfully expressed concern. This change in attitude has allowed the district to take the appropriate steps to address the issue, rather than fend off against parents who instinctively attack the district or transportation department for issues out of their control.

While the calamity day was a surprise to the Mentor district, the result showed that when the community comes together to solve an issue rather than argue, solutions can be agreed upon, and students can receive the education they deserve.