West Babylon school district puts contingency plans in place as last measure amid bus driver shortage
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Dr. Yiendhy Farrelly said “the decision to make this shift will only be made if the district is provided with little to no notice of available bus drivers to safely transport students to school. The specifics of remote instruction will vary based on the situation at hand.”
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The superintendent of the West Babylon school district has put contingency plans in place as a last resort following a "transportation disruption" on Friday due to a school bus driver shortage.
In a letter to parents, Superintendent Dr. Yiendhy Farrelly said “the decision to make this shift will only be made if the district is provided with little to no notice of available bus drivers to safely transport students to school. The specifics of remote instruction will vary based on the situation at hand.”
The district laid out two possible contingencies. The first is a "hybrid model where some students attend school in person while others participate remotely.” The second plan says "one school building, such as the high school, is following a full remote instructional plan while the other six buildings are in person.”
Dr. Farrelly told parents, “As educators and parents, we fully understand that remote instruction is not ideal, and we want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to avoid that from happening.”
The district says it has contracted with BOCES for additional routes for students and says it passed an emergency resolution allowing it to sign additional contracts with transportation companies.
The district says it is currently in contract with two of these companies to provide transportation for students to and from after-school athletic contests. It plans on putting out a request for proposal for more transportation companies to submit their requests to drive students in the absence of bus drivers.
See the full letter here.
