More Mission school bus routes will be cancelled next week due to a driver shortage.
In a letter to parents and guardians, Mission Public School District superintendent Angus Wilson announced closures for a pair of routes next week.
Route 16 will be cancelled on Tuesday (Oct. 1) and Wednesday (Oct. 2) while route 6 will be cancelled on Thursday (Oct. 3) and Friday (Oct. 4).
The district previously cancelled other routes over the past two weeks.
Route 11 in the Hatzic area was cancelled on Sept. 16, 17 and 18 and route 5 was cancelled on Sept. 18. Meanwhile, route 2 was cancelled on Sept. 19, Sept. 20 and Sept. 23. Route 4 was cancelled on Tuesday (Sept. 24) and Wednesday (Sept. 25).
Wilson said the district will work to ‘roll’ the cancellation so no one run is impacted more than others.
“We understand that this is a potentially upsetting event, creating uncertainty and inconvenience, and as noted we are working to improve this situation with the addition of more drivers,” Wilson said.
According to the letter, a number of new bus drivers will become available over the course of October and November. Wilson hopes the district is mostly done with cancellations after the drivers join.
“While we have a small number of drivers in training, we can certainly welcome more to the fold,” Wilson wrote. “We are actively recruiting bus drivers (and other positions) on an ongoing basis.”
