PLANO, Texas — Two major school districts reported delays on their bus routes Monday morning due to staffing issues.
Garland ISD said multiple buses were delayed due to several absences. One bus route, Bus 804 Brandenburg/Vial, ran about 30-45 minutes behind regular schedule this morning, the transportation department tweeted. A route for South Garland High School was running about 90 minutes behind.
Garland ISD said it modified afternoon routes to be able to take students home, but the district said the modifications may cause delays and encouraged parents who wanted to pick up their students to do so.
Mechanics and other personnel in the transportation department who were licensed to drive a bus were pulled to help with routes, Garland ISD told WFAA.
Plano ISD said that it also had several bus routes experiencing significant delays across the district Monday. The district told parents that if they have a child riding the bus, they should consider driving them to school.
The district told WFAA that they've been dealing with a bus driver shortage for a while. Plano ISD is hiring bus drivers to help bridge the gap and provide all the necessary training.
Absences have also affected the Rio Vista ISD this week. The district will be closed Monday and Tuesday due to a lack of staffing caused by COVID-19, officials said Sunday.
Last week, other North Texas school districts were seeing a shortage of substitute teachers as COVID-19 cases surged since students and staff returned to classes following holiday break.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and Dallas ISD told WFAA on Friday that they had approved pay incentives for substitutes as they address the shortage.