Board hears transportation report after driver shortage left about 80 students without buses
Summary
Board discussed a recent bus-driver absence that affected roughly 80 students across two sites, limits of SchoolMessenger timing, and options including training more drivers and examining later or partial routes to reduce missed instruction.
The Bullhead City School Board discussed transportation gaps Nov. 20 after a bus driver’s weekend car crash left routes for Sunrise and Fox Creek unserved earlier in the week.
Dr. Stewart told the board that "about 80 students" across the two sites were affected when the driver was unavailable and the district had no substitute. She described the district’s parent-notification system (SchoolMessenger) and said the platform’s earliest notification window (6 a.m.) makes very early route alerts difficult. "We put it out on SchoolMessenger...Right now SchoolMessenger limits the first notification to 6AM and that's pretty close to bus time for Fox Creek students or for the middle school," she said.
Board members asked whether the district could run a later route so students could at least attend part of the day. Dr. Stewart said operational constraints — including bus turnaround times and the need to run elementary routes immediately after middle‑school runs — would make late pickups create challenges for getting students home at the end of the day.
The superintendent said the district has hired an additional driver since the incident and offers free bus‑driver training to encourage applicants, but noted the shortage is statewide and some districts have reduced transportation services as a result. The board asked staff to determine how many students miss school when buses do not run so members can evaluate whether late or alternate routing would be justified.
The board accepted the transportation report after discussion.
