Santa, bring school districts some bus drivers, please

Santa's helper drives a school bus to a couple of Jordan District schools every year, dazzling good boys and girls with goodie bags.

But he'll be darned if he could deliver some schools' Christmas wish:

More bus drivers.

There's a shortage of people willing to cart children to and from school, field trips or athletic events. The shortage has caused schools in Washington County to start early and end late. Jordan District has waived its nepotism policy to help bolster the ranks. And Tooele District recently parked on Main Street a bus draped with a unique help-wanted banner: "This bus needs a driver."

"We've had (a statewide shortage) for years," Murray District special services director Pat O'Hara said. "It's been a tough go."

Utah schools have juggled a teacher shortage in special education, higher-level math and English as a second language specialties. They even have endured substitute teaching shortages.

The bus driver shortage is spotty. Alpine and Davis district officials, for instance, say they're holding their own.

But leaders in Washington County, where enrollment grew 6.2 percent from last year, are feeling the pang of too few drivers.

So are the children.

"What it has caused us to do is have some very early starting times, which are unpopular with the public and understandably so," assistant superintendent Marshall Topham said. "The growth just catches every single aspect of operating a school district."

Tooele District has 34 drivers for 99 bus routes, Superintendent Larry Shumway said. It actually needs 45 drivers to handle routes and field trips.

The district charters private buses for extracurricular and night activities, which can be more expensive than a school bus on short excursions, said Terry Linares, Tooele District secondary education director who oversees transportation.

Granite School District has a solid group of full-time drivers. But its "spares" are dwindling, transportation director Tom Given said. "Typically, we keep on a regular spare list 12 to 15. We're down to (nine) right now."