Eastmont Schools Announces Plans for Bus Route Cancellations in Case of Transportation Staff Shortages from COVID-19

The Eastmont School District is leaving its bus schedule in place, but is making contingency plans if staffing conditions change.

The district says its sharing its alternative plan with students and families in case its Transportation Staff is depleted in the coming weeks due to the Omicron variant.

The plan calls for the bus routes with the lowest ridership to be canceled first, followed by routes that only serve elementary schools.

New COVID-19 cases have almost tripled in the past month among Eastmont students, while cases among staff members are nearly five times as high.

Eastmont Schools has a three-step program for bus route cancellations from staff shortages, and says the goal is to impact the fewest students possible:

STEP ONE: Cancel the routes with the lowest ridership first. This would include routes 32 (Badger Mt.), routes 18 & 19 (Pre-school), and route 2 (McKinney-Vento). 

STEP TWO: Keeping with our goal, if needed, we would next cancel more routes with lower ridership numbers and routes that only serve secondary students, including routes 46, 23, 21, 29, 51, 25, and 7.

STEP THREE: Next, we would cancel the route that only provides service to elementary students, route 36.