Bellefontaine City Schools Superintendent Brad Hall reported Tuesday afternoon that through tireless and creative efforts of the transportation staff and supervisor Tammie Garman, the district will be able to resume all but two of its regular bus routes Wednesday morning, Oct. 7.
The district first reported Monday evening that nine bus routes would not be unavailable for 14 days, or through Oct. 19, while those drivers were quarantined because of a COVID-19 exposure.
However, through the reassignment of van drivers who were running special routes, use of substitute bus drivers, and Garman also running two routes, the district will be able to start providing most of those routes again Wednesday.
The two routes that will not be running at this time are Bus 3 – Jaguars, and Bus 9 – Kangaroos.
“Unfortunately, due to a shortage of available substitute drivers, we are not able to resume two routes at this time. The decision on which routes would not be running was based solely on the number of riders,” Hall said.
“We are working on a solution, but cannot make any promises at this point.”
Also, Bus 12 – Horses will be for the elementary school and intermediate school only. The middle school and high school routes will not run, officials said.
In addition to the nine bus drivers who are quarantined, the superintendent reported Tuesday there was one bus of students who were in contact with the affected individual, and those 21 students also have been quarantined for a 14-day period as well.
Relating to the busing situation, the following buses will begin running their normal routes today: Bus 5 – Cats; Bus 19 – Lions; and Bus 20 – Alligators.
The following buses will run, but students need to be at the bus stop 10 to 12 minutes early for Bus 11 – Elephants and Bus 13 – Dogs.
“Since the buses will be driven by new drivers who are unfamiliar with the routes, I am asking for your continued patience,” the superintendent said.
Finally, Buses 14 (Iguanas), 15 (Fish), and 16 (Giraffes) will continue with their normal routes, as these drivers were not affected by the quarantine measures.
“I realize this has been a huge inconvenience, but I do thank you for your patience,” Hall said. “Our ultimate goal is to get all buses running their normal routes again.”