The Iroquois Central School District Board of Education spent an extended portion of its meeting discussing transportation staffing, summer special-education contracts and a public complaint about long daily student ride times.
John and Dave, district staff, told the board the transportation office struggled to staff all runs during summer special-education programming. The district posted nine summer runs, received confirmations from roughly a dozen employees and then actively recruited to secure additional staff; when the district could not fully staff one specific run it contracted with an outside company for that service. Staff said contracting for summer runs is rare but did occur when internal coverage was not available.
Transportation staff said maintaining a strong substitute driver pool is difficult because market demand for bus drivers is high; supervisors and mechanics sometimes drive runs when necessary, and the district has contingency plans such as merging runs before contracting out. Staff reported they currently have drivers scheduled to cover the upcoming school year but said the situation is monitored weekly and is subject to change.
During public comment, parent Jeff Macri described his son’s commute to Canisius High School last year as regularly exceeding 90 minutes and sometimes reaching two hours. Macri said the proposed route for the coming year lists 1 hour and 15 minutes under ideal conditions, but he expressed concern that past experience shows ride times can be far longer. He told the board he and his wife both work full time and said the current arrangements are not sustainable; he asked the board to use its authority to secure a solution and said he would consider filing a complaint with the state education department if the district does not resolve the matter.
Board members questioned whether long rides are a districtwide problem or limited to particular routes. Staff noted that some runs require both a driver and an attendant (for special-education students) and that those runs are costlier to staff. The board also discussed parent-driver arrangements permitted under New York State law for exceptional circumstances, and staff said reimbursement follows IRS mileage rules.
Board members thanked transportation staff and drivers for their efforts and asked them to continue to monitor staffing and pursue creative recruitment and retention measures. No board action was taken beyond discussion; staff said they will continue to report on driver availability and to update the board if staffing shortfalls require contracting during the regular school year.