|
 Seventh grader Raúl Sámano waited for the school bus on what
felt like a typical Friday morning. When he called his mother 10 minutes before
the start of class at Maria Saucedo Elementary, five miles away, they both
realized the bus was never coming.
Raúl’s father left work to take him to school. Thousands of other students are
struggling with a lack of transportation because of a statewide school bus
driver shortage. The problem got worse in Chicago when 73 drivers quit as school
started rather than comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
 There were 2,100 Chicago Public Schools students stranded without a ride on the
first day of classes. That number rose to 3,300 in September. Weeks later, the
problem hasn’t improved.
Often, parents are put in a scramble without any notice of bus service
cancellations.
[to top of second column] |
“They should be calling the parents so we know what
to do. That way we can make alternate choices,” said Raúl’s mother,
Maria Sámano.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS have had discussions
with rideshare companies Uber and Lyft as a temporary solution, but
no deal has been made.
“We have to put a huge amount of faith and trust in CPS
transportation just to put our kids on a school bus with an aide and
a driver, and then to say, ‘You should just put them in a random
Uber and we will reimburse you — it’s just ridiculous,” said Laurie
Viets, a mother of three children with autism.
Qualifying families received $1,000 in the first month of school for
transportation costs, and $500 for each month thereafter. Many
families rely on the traditional school bus arrangement, and it
can’t come back fast enough. |
