Bemidji school board addresses bus driver shortage, lists Central building for sale

Daltyn Lofstrom, The Bemidji Pioneer, Minn.
·3 min read

Aug. 22—BEMIDJI — The final

Bemidji Area Schools

Board of Education meeting before the start of the 2023-2024 school year oversaw a number of topics, including addressing a need for school bus drivers throughout the district.

District Business Director Ashley Eastridge informed the board that during the last fiscal year, the district experienced driver shortages averaging eight open routes each day, which equals about 14% of the district's total routes. As many as 13 open routes occurred on three occasions, as well.

"These situations have put a significant amount of pressure on our transportation staff to not cancel routes," Eastridge said.

With transportation being a mandated service the district must provide, the district's transportation department hosted a job fair in an effort to recruit new drivers this past June, though this resulted in no new applicants.

As a result, Eastridge presented an addendum to a school bus transportation contract with Bemidji Bus Lines that would provide three additional regular bus routes for the upcoming year, costing the district around $171,000.

These routes will serve students in Horace May, Lincoln and Northern Elementary attendance areas.

"After fiscal year 2023-2024, the district will evaluate the need to contract out these routes going forward and if necessary, obtain quotes for future years," Eastridge added.

Superintendent Jeremy Olson emphasized the statewide scope of workforce shortages as they relate to school bus drivers, a problem that's not unique to Bemidji Area Schools.

"You can drive down any road in any town and you'll see, 'bus drivers wanted,'" Olson said. "This is a complex issue and what we're trying to do ... is start the year off as full as we possibly can, knowing that there will be hindrances and challenges throughout the year. We don't want to get into a spot where we have to delay routes because of drivers.

"Until we have more drivers, we're going to continue experiencing challenges, so we're doing the very best with the situation we're given. It's a complex problem and it's going to take a lot of creative solutions to get out of it. This is one step we're presenting to lessen the load."

After a bit more discussion, the board unanimously approved the addendum to its contract with Bemidji Bus Lines.

After the board's facilities committee was approached with a proposal to purchase Central Elementary School, the board unanimously voted to declare the school as surplus property as a "first step" before any potential negotiations or sale. No additional information was provided about the nature of the proposal.

Central was closed as a cost-saving measure for the district

following the 2020-2021 school year.

The board was also set to discuss the district's 2023-2028 strategic plan, but this was tabled to a future meeting due to the board not having an up-to-date draft of the plan.

The full meeting can be viewed on the

Bemidji Area Schools YouTube channel.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18, in the district board room.