Live reporting by
Sofia Delgado
Chicago Public Schools’ bus struggle continues. At a meeting of the citywide Local School Council (LSC) Advisory Board, attendees discussed long commutes;
Good evening, I will be live tweeting the Chicago Local School Council Advisory Board meeting for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters. The meeting started at 6:01 pm.
06:08 PM Nov 13, 2023 CST
Kimberly Jones is presenting on student transportation in the wake of a bus driver shortage
Jones stated that it was "impossible" to reduce the driving times for students to under an hour with the current capacity and resources, though the current travel times had drastically decreased since last year
Background: in 2016 13 bus companies were lost, which started the national bus driver shortage. In response, Jones said they have started making the jobs "more attractive" to drivers in Chicago
Regardless, the district is operating at 54% capacity, as recruitment is strong but they are not retaining drivers
3,793 transportation requests were received after the first day of school
Next steps: requesting Sec. of State to revamp and shorten wait times for appts. for "on the road" testing required for CDL acquisition
CPS is now focusing on recruitment and retention, especially on the North and West sides where more drivers are needed
Wages are between $22-25 hours a week with no guarantee of a 40-hour schedule
Jones notes that Amazon is running a successful hiring campaign, and they are attempting to underline the wages and hours. "It's tough to compete with companies like Walmart and Amazon. it's tough," executive director Jones said.
A community member pointed out that no bus driver position description is listed on cps.edu/careers
cps.edu/careers
OLSCR Director Kishasha Williams Ford is presenting virtually on the LSC minutes
The LSC website has undergone several updates regarding elections
As no new business was on the agenda, members voted to adjourn at 7:01 pm.