District struggles with driver shortage, SPED routes and summer heat; committee to improve routing and communication

Salt Lake City School District transportation officials told the board on Oct. 21 that driver shortages, route complexity and vehicle limitations are creating reliability and safety concerns that the department is addressing with new processes and technology.

Ken Martinez, transportation director, and Isaac Gastel, executive director of auxiliary services, described the district's current system: 72 routes supporting 161 morning/afternoon runs and an annual budget in the $7'8 million range. The department has added some magnet and optional-program runs this year to increase access; Ken said most routes run at roughly half capacity or more, but ridership varies daily.

Driver shortage and staffing: Officials said the district is short about five drivers and that staff sometimes use mechanics or office staff to fill runs. Martinez described recruitment and retention challenges: many drivers prefer full-time contracts available in nearby districts; the district currently offers 20- and 30-hour benefited contracts rather than guaranteed 40-hour contracts, and the two-tier start/end system limits opportunities for full-time driver schedules.

Special education and routing: The district has 38 SPED routes; 25 have an aide or attendant, one has a nurse (for a single medically-complex student), and 13 routes operate with only a driver when no attendant is specified in an IEP. Martinez and SPED staff explained that attendant decisions are made by school IEP teams; the district attempts to communicate attendant needs to the transportation supervisor and to place students accordingly. Martinez said routing goals attempt to keep individual rides near 30 minutes, though some AM/PM legs approach 40'45 minutes; the longest reported single-leg time for a SPED student was about 45 minutes.

Heat, air conditioning and equipment limits: Staff said the fleet includes roughly 100 vehicles but only seven with air conditioning. The department has three students identified with heat sensitivity who are assigned to air-conditioned vehicles when possible; the transportation team also provides reusable ice packs and other interim measures when vehicles are not air-conditioned. Ken said only four school days since the start of the year exceeded 90 degrees while students were on buses; two days topped 100 degrees.

Technology, exceptions and hazardous-route process: The district uses a routing/parent-communication platform (Zoom) that shows approximate stops and times; staff said the system is in its second year and they are still onboarding families and verifying pass tap-on/tap-off data. The district implemented an online exception-request process this year; of 41 requests made, 32 were approved, staff said. Hazardous-route determinations and stop changes are reviewed by the district's traffic/transportation committee and operations leadership.

Why it matters: The driver shortage affects daily reliability for families, the district's ability to add optional-program transportation, and special-education logistics. Board members asked about whether the district could offer more full-time contracts or alter start times to increase driver availability; staff said those options carry budget, schedule and collective-bargaining trade-offs.

Board questions and next steps: Trustees asked for ridership breakdowns for magnet/DLI runs versus neighborhood routes; Ken said he would provide numbers. Trustees also asked for documentation on special-education attendant placement and for improved communication with families where routes change. Staff proposed a December check-in on Zoom/tap-on implementation and said they would continue recruiting drivers and testing service models (including vans for small runs).