Keystone Today

Pittsburgh Public Schools, which has been short over 400 bus drivers, is acknowledging that several teachers have driven some students to their homes because of late or no-show school buses.

The school district anticipated that 17,596 students in Pittsburgh would need transportation to and from school daily during the 2021-2022 school year, according to Pittsburgh Public Schools. The national school bus driver shortage, which has resulted in school bus delays, is “hitting close to home" in Pittsburgh.

“This ongoing lack of bus drivers leaves the district shorthanded 436 drivers (229 Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and 207 non-CDL) with a seat gap for approximately 10,996 students,” the website said. “Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) must transform its approach to transporting students to limit the impact of a national school bus driver shortage. This shortage became exacerbated due to the lack of work available during the pandemic while school buses stood still and other jobs were hiring.”

Several teachers have driven some students to their homes because of busing issues, Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4. PPS parent Holly Williams’ 7-year-old daughter, Allyson Mohr, a second-grader at Banksville K-8, was driven by a teacher to her school bus stop on a Friday.

“It’s very frustrating because I don't know where my child is, when she gets out of school, or even on the bus, when I think she's getting on the bus I'm finding out she actually wasn’t,” Williams told Piitsburgh's Action News 4. “The teachers took it upon themselves, and we’re really thankful for them doing that, but that’s not their job. They get paid to teach our kids, not to transport them.”