Seattle school bus route reductions go into effect, with some schools losing 12 routes

Facing a shortage of drivers, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) suspended over 140 bus routes on Monday, impacting a total of 48 schools in the district.

Cascadia Elementary School in North Seattle saw the most cuts of any school, with a total of 12 routes suspended as of Monday. Hazel Wolf K-8, Pathfinder K-8 and Salmon Bay K-8 all had seven routes canceled. TOPS K-8 and Hamilton International Middle School both saw six routes suspended. The suspensions are currently indefinite until the driver shortage abates.

The route cancelations are expected to impact approximately 6,740 transportation-eligible students. However, the district said that half of those students do not regularly ride the bus, making the exact number of students impacted harder to measure.

In a memo sent to parents, the district said that it prioritized maintaining equitable transportation services "for those students who are furthest from educational justice." SPS is required by law to provide transportation services for students receiving special education services whose IEPs specify transportation as a related service and student's whose 504 plans provide for transportation.

Some of the schools that saw a higher number route cancelations are now asking for parents and guardians to volunteer their time to drive carpools, walk with students or serve as crossing guards.

"We know this presents a sudden and significant hardship for our families. Together with PTSA we are working on how we can best support families," wrote officials from Hazel Wolf K-8 in a bulletin posted Friday.

The district — the largest in the state with approximately 53,000 students — does not own or operate the buses, and instead contracts a third-party vendor, First Student, which is currently dealing with the impacts of a nationwide driver shortage.

The existing staffing shortage is expected to be exacerbated by the state's vaccine mandate, which went into effect Monday. SPS is currently offering sign-on bonuses to help attract more applicants.

"It’s our hope that the staffing shortages faced by First Student will be resolved as quickly as possible so we can resume – and improve upon – all bus service," said SPS Assistant Superintendent of Operations Fred Podesta in a news release Friday. "In the meantime, we are actively looking for alternative solutions to this challenge, such as the expanded provision of ORCA transit passes for middle school students, and other modes of transportation."