After announcing on Monday, Nov. 30 that the district’s bus services would be shut down for the immediate future due to staffing shortages, the district announced on Wednesday that buses would be returning Thursday, Friday and for the near future.
Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Superintendent Steve King said Friday, Dec. 4, that the district was able to get together enough drivers to resume bus service and apologized for not sending out a notification to the public.
The return of buses however did mean reduced routes to deal with a continued staffing shortage.
“We are very pleased to announce that our transportation department came together yesterday and today and problem-solved to create new routes to serve our community,” the district posted on their Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon. “These new routes will begin tomorrow morning. This was truly a team effort by people committed to serving our children and their best interests. Oak Creek School and Special Services routes have not changed. Thank you for your patience as we worked this out.”
The details of how routes have changed for students at Mountain View Preparatory, Dr. Daniel Bright, and Cottonwood Community School can be found on the district’s Facebook page, or website, at www.cocsd.us.
According to Cottonwood-Oak Creek Superintendent Steve King, the staffing shortage that led to a reduction in routes was not directly due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
“We don’t have any drivers with COVID, so it was not directly related to COVID, but everything is affected by COVID right now,” King said. According to King, while drivers have not been directly affected by the virus, some have had to deal with family members and others who tested positive for the disease, through required quarantines and other concerns, while some members of the staff have gotten the virus.
King said that the district continues to face staffing issues, as all school districts are finding difficulty finding substitute teachers as the health crisis continues.
