Talawanda asks parents to prepare for bus cancellations

A shortage of substitute bus drivers has prompted Talawanda Superintendent Ed Theroux to encourage parents to prepare another plan for getting their children to and from school in case buses are postponed or canceled because of bus driver illness. 

“We currently do not have many substitute drivers and this is creating issues when bus drivers are sick,” Theroux wrote on a district blog. 

Talawanda’s bus drivers work for Petermann, a private company that contracts transportation services to the district. 

“We don’t know why there are so many job vacancies, not only bus drivers but also teachers and office workers,” said Holli Morrish, the director of communications and public relations at Talawanda.

Theroux wrote that it takes three to five weeks for qualified school bus driver candidates to be hired and trained.