Sparta. About one or one of the Sparta Township public schools’ bus routes were not covered as of Sept. 29, Superintendent Matthew Beck reported to the school board.
Beck said the district got off to a rocky start with its busing, with Sparta experiencing the same bus driver shortage experienced by schools across the country.
When over the summer the district approved the bids for busing, the routes were said to be covered. But when school started, one of the bus providers was short 11 drivers and another was short seven.
“What happened was we had buses that were committed to a route, but we had a shortage of bus drivers,” Beck said.
He said the district piggybacked routes, which made for many late buses. But the conditions have improved, he said.
“We tried to get very creative with our bus routes and our bus companies,” Beck said. “We have reached out to bus companies we’ve never used before, and we resolved most of the routes.”