CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Children attending schools within the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System may soon have to find another way to school as some bus routes are becoming eliminated due to a driver shortage.
CMCSS said due to a bus driver shortage, the transportation routes for the 2022-2023 school year are being updated and will take away school bus travel for some students.
The new transportation routes will expand the radius of the parent responsibility zones which are the areas in which families are responsible for providing transportation to students. Currently, CMCSS says they have exceeded the expectations of state law to provide transportation to elementary students who live half a mile from their zoned schools and transportation for middle and high school students who live more than a mile from their zoned schools.
As a result, starting in 2022-2023 the school system will expand the parent responsibility zones to one mile for elementary students and one and a half miles for middle and high school students.
Exceptions are being made for students who live in areas with four or more lanes of traffic without a crossing guard, on roads with insufficient road lengths with speeds more than 35 miles per hour and on roads with no sidewalks with speeds more than 35 miles per hour.
CMCSS says to address the bus driver shortage they are providing a $1,000 sign-on bonus for new drivers, a referral bonus of $1,000 for current drivers, a stipend of $10 per additional route and $600 end-of-year bonus for bus drivers who have been employed more than 18 months.
Those interested in becoming a driver for Clarksville-Montgomery School System should call 931-358-4230 or click here.