Columbus schools cancels classes Wednesday due to transportation absences, cold temperatures

Megan Henry, The Columbus Dispatch
·1 min read
Due to an increased number of transportation absences and forecasted cold morning temperatures, all classes have been cancelled for Columbus City Schools Wednesday,
Due to an increased number of transportation absences and forecasted cold morning temperatures, all classes have been cancelled for Columbus City Schools Wednesday,

Columbus City Schools cancelled classes for Wednesday, the district announced Tuesday night.

All schools are closed "due to an increased number of transportation absences and forecasted cold morning temperatures," according to the district website.

There will be no remote or in-person classes. All athletic and extracurricular activities are also cancelled for Wednesday.

A bus driver shortage in Greater Columbus and across the country has complicated a new school year already made difficult by a resurgence in COVID-19 cases because of the highly contagious delta variant, fights over masking and vaccinating, and concerns about overcoming learning losses from the past year.

Last school year, there were 314,920 school bus drivers nationally — a nearly 15% decrease from the previous year, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This year, as of Jan. 12, there are 19,013 active school bus drivers in the state, according to the Ohio Department of Education.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus City Schools cancels classes for Wednesday