Durham Public Schools is still struggling to fill its bus routes several months into the school year.
The district said about 30% of its funded full-time school bus driver positions are vacant.
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District staff have expressed at DPS Board of Education meetings that they need help.
As of Thursday, DPS has 134 bus drivers and another seven on leave. It leaves 59 vacant full-time positions.
About 73% of the district’s approximate 32,000 students require transportation to school.
The DPS School Board is looking at two solutions: increasing the number of drivers and decreasing rider demand.
Two former DPS drivers Merica Forbes and Wallce Cherry are leading the charge to hire more. They’re both considered transportation specialists authorized by the Division of Motor Vehicles to conduct behind the wheel training. The process is helping reduce a month off the hiring time.
“We’re able to just step in and focus solely on recruiting those drivers, but also training those drivers,” Forbes said. “Then, the DMV steps in and they help them to be successful getting those [passenger and school bus] endorsements, so we can get them on the road a little faster."
When it comes to the issue of demand, one possibility is using express bus stops for secondary magnet schools. The proposals could change bus routes for schools like Rogers-Herr Middle School and the Durham School of the Arts. It could save more than 700 miles of driving.
The district is also looking at walk zones, areas within a mile and a half of schools with enough pedestrian infrastructure for students to walk.