COLORADO SPRINGS— School District 11 is consolidating bus routes for the 2023-24 school year. Staff said there are not enough drivers.
"We have to do what we can do with our resources," said the transportation operations manager Kevin McCafferty.
The district dropped seven bus routes for this upcoming school year, said McCafferty. Click HERE to search for your new bus stop.
"Granted, [students] might have to walk a little further, might have a bus that's a little more fuller," said McCafferty.
Elementary school students may need to walk a mile to catch a school bus. For middle school students, it may be 1.5 miles, and for high school students, it may be 2 miles, according to the district's website.
McCafferty said they won't know how many more students will be on every bus until mid-July.
The district still needs about 20 more bus drivers to be fully staffed, said McCafferty. But, even if those positions are filled, he said the new bus route plan will not likely go away.
I spoke with one North Middle School student about possibly walking 1.5 miles to their bus stop. She said she'd rather have her parents drop her off at school.
"It would just be probably worse for me to walk even further and wake up even earlier so I can get there on time," said Starla Nipp.
Nipp said she's worried about walking in the cold or dark in the winter. "If I was in the dark, I think I'd be a little more scared."
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