St. Paul school leaders say contractor's lack of bus drivers forced shift of students to Metro Transit

Thousands of St. Paul Public Schools students will have to rely on Metro Transit to get to school after a busing contractor was unable to hire enough drivers, school officials say, further exacerbating the district's shortage.

Districts across the state and country are facing a driver shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. St. Paul was already short 40 drivers for its 275 bus routes, forcing the district to combine some routes and adjust start times at some schools. Then last Wednesday, a contractor informed the district that it would be providing 36 fewer drivers than promised, Superintendent Joe Gothard said at a news conference Tuesday.

"This was news to us, this was a surprise to us, and this caused us to have to come together to develop on the fly a way to get our students to and from school," Gothard said.

The district, which employs 50 drivers and contracts with eight companies for others to provide bus service, would not name the contractor that fell short.

Without school bus service, high school students will be encouraged to ride Metro Transit to and from school. Younger students at multiple schools — American Indian Magnet, Battle Creek Middle, Capitol Hill Magnet, Jie Ming Mandarin Immersion, L'Etoile du Nord Elementary, Murray Middle and Wellstone Elementary — will see start times adjusted to accommodate the bus changes.

Jackie Turner, the district's chief of operations, asked the greater St. Paul community to watch out for students learning public transit routes.

"We've been partnered with Metro Transit for a number of years," Turner said.

Students at three St. Paul high schools — Creative Arts Secondary, Johnson Senior High and Gordon Parks — already used Metro Transit to get to school and will continue to ride with them this year. When classes start Thursday, high school students at Central, Como Park, Harding and Washington Technology Magnet schools will also need to take Metro Transit.

"We want our students to know that are taking Metro Transit on Thursday, they just need to get on the bus, and inform the driver that they are a St. Paul Public Schools student," Turner said.

There will be no cost for families at this point.

Students who attend Highland Park Senior High and Humboldt High School will still be able to take school buses.

School board Chairwoman Jeanelle Foster asked the school community to have grace during this time.

"This is not that we were unprepared, it is not a result of inaction, or a lack of forethought," Foster said. "We were ready to roll out for school, and something happened and a vendor was unable to fulfill their end. We have had to shift and pivot very quickly to keep kids in schools."

School districts are often seeking bus drivers as new academic years start, but the shortage has been particularly pronounced this year.

Some districts, including South Washington County and Eastern Carver County schools, said they've navigated the challenge without much trouble.

Eastern Carver County, which began classes Tuesday, was expecting only minor bus-schedule issues, said district spokeswoman Celi Haga. She said that's because the district opted this year to handle transportation itself, rather than working with an outside transportation company.

"While we do have current openings for school bus drivers, at this time we are able to cover all of our routes and do not expect delays, other than normal first week of school scenarios," she said.

But Minneapolis, which starts classes Wednesday, is offering incentives to families who transport their children to school. And the Stillwater school district, which resumed classes for older students last week, is suing its transportation provider, Metropolitan Transportation Network, for not providing service for 23% of the district's routes.

When asked about whether St. Paul is considering similar legal action, Gothard said the district is focused on getting students to school but will review all of its contracts.

District officials said they hope the changes are temporary as more bus drivers enter the workforce. The district will re-evaluate these changes around the holidays, Turner said.

Staff writer Erin Golden contributed to this report.