School Committee Adopts "Last Resort" Policies As Bus Driver Shortage Persists

As the Nantucket Public Schools’ severe bus driver shortage continues, the district is working with the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority (NRTA) on an agreement to shuttle students to school from the Richmond housing development on Old South Road, the district's busiest bus stop. Additionally, certain students will be allowed to arrive at school up to half an hour late without penalty as the shortage remains unresolved with the start of school just two weeks away.

“[Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett] has had some good conversations with NRTA to get some help from them, so I’m hoping that through those conversations we’ll be able to at least get some help for shuttling our kids from the Richmond property to school,” Assistant Superintendent of Academic Operations Mellisa Devitt said. “But at this point, we’re going to have a rocky start.”

This summer, the bus driver shortage has emerged as the single most difficult issue facing the district, leaving the School Committee at a loss as the first day of the new school year approaches.

Any help the NRTA can provide will not be enough to stave off the “last resort” policy changes suggested by a School Committee subcommittee at a meeting earlier this month. Under the new policies, the public schools will not bus any students living within two miles of the school they attend, or any students in grades 7 through 12, regardless of how far they live from the schools.

“This is really difficult.” School Committee chair Shantaw Bloise Murphy said. “It’s heartbreaking when we get to a point where we realize that we can’t service some of our students in the way that we should be and that we have a responsibility to.”

These changes could be difficult for students who have previously relied on the bus to get to school and will no longer be eligible for busing, especially if their parents are not able to drive them and they do not have licenses themselves. The School Committee adopted the policies unanimously—but reluctantly—on Tuesday.

“We have done some hard things before. We have divided our Committee on other topics. I am going to be voting in favor of this, but reluctantly. Just out of necessity,” School Committee member Vince Murphy said. “This is the one that honestly has hurt me the most so far.”

School Committee members and district administrators have been clear that the changes are temporary and exceptions can be made when necessary on a case-by-case basis. Hallett said the school is planning to allow middle and high school students affected by the policy changes a 30-minute grace period at the start of the school day so that they can arrive late without a penalty.

“We will be allowing a large grace period for our children,” Hallett said. “We understand that this is a dramatic shift from what we have been able to do prior to this year, and it is going to be a challenge to our families.”

The district currently has only one driver who is certified to drive a classic “big bus” yellow school bus in the morning and afternoon.

“To operate effectively, we really need four big bus drivers,” Hallett said. “Our large bus will have to operate with double runs again, which means we will need additional supervision of students who will have to wait for a second bus run.”

Even one more driver could dramatically change the district’s fortunes, however. The district had been hoping a second driver might be able to help by the start of the year, but obtaining the necessary licenses is a difficult task, especially on Nantucket. Anyone who wants to get a license to drive a big school bus has to go off-island to train and test on a “long-nosed” school bus with an extended hood. Nantucket only has “flat-nosed” buses, meaning that drivers can’t train on-island, even though the knowledge they gain from that training will be irrelevant to their actual job.