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Pennridge details rerouted bus runs and driver shortage; parents and a student press for safety and accessibility fixes
Summary
Superintendent described a substantial driver shortage that reduced routes from about 95 pre‑pandemic to 62 and daily transportation of roughly 5,500 students. The board approved bus routes and stops; public commenters asked for immediate facility accessibility fixes and raised concerns about an unsupervised elementary bus stop.
Pennridge School District officials told the board Oct. 14 that transportation remains a pressing operational challenge after pandemic‑era driver losses and rising service demands.
Superintendent Dr. Barrios and transportation staff reported the district covers roughly 95 square miles and safely transports about 5,500 students daily. Of those, 52 students receive out‑of‑district transportation for specialized program needs and approximately 671 non‑public school students are transported to schools within a 10‑mile radius, according to the superintendent’s statement. District transportation completed a full district‑wide rerouting over the summer and reduced total bus routes from about 95 before the pandemic to 62 to match available drivers. The district cited longer ride times, late arrivals and impacts to extracurricular and athletic transportation as consequences of staffing shortages. Board members said they have increased driver pay, conducted job fairs and performed on‑the‑spot interviews to recruit and retain drivers.
At the facilities committee’s recommendation the board approved updated bus routes and stops.
During public comment, an 11th‑grade student in the Unified program, Susie Burke, asked the district to install handicap automatic doors with push buttons at the pool, the main entrance, the gym and bathrooms, saying the elevators are often out of service and that automatic doors would enable independence during the school day and at after‑school activities. Board members asked that the student’s request be put on the next facilities committee agenda.
A parent, Crystal Koslin, urged the district to act on a separate, specific elementary bus‑stop safety concern (she described the stop as ‘not visible from our home’ and said students had been unsupervised at the post office porch during poor weather). Koslin said previous communications had not resolved the matter and asked for follow up; the board received the comment and did not take immediate action beyond committee referral.
(Reporting note: transportation counts and route totals were presented by the superintendent. Specific stop locations and timelines were provided by public commenters.)
