CPS to buy green buses with federal grant, but driver shortage remains a challenge for worn-out parents
Less than three weeks after informing parents that general education students would not receive busing for the remainder of the academic year, Chicago Public Schools announced it would buy and operate up to 50 electric school buses over the next three years through a $20 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Environmentalists and school and city officials praised the EPA funding as a step in the right direction toward a greener school district, improved city air quality and a reduced carbon footprint.
But the news of clean energy buses comes in the middle of a tough school year for many parents who are exasperated by daily hourslong commutes to school because of a bus driver shortage that has kept their children without the free or easy district transportation they received in previous years.
Since August, CPS has provided transportation only for students with disabilities who have Individual Education Plans or 504 Plans requiring transportation, and students in temporary living situations, for whom the district is federally mandated to provide transportation services.
Parents advocating for busing recognized the importance of electric buses but questioned how the district would provide support to families currently without any busing.
“We strongly support CPS’ efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. However, empty seats on yellow buses are the same as empty seats on green buses. They both lead to inequity in public education,” said Katie Milewski, leader of CPS Parents for Buses.
CPS does not currently own or operate its own bus fleet, and the 50 clean energy buses will allow the district to build up its own transportation services. However, 50 buses will not be enough to provide transportation for all students, and CPS will continue to supplement with outside vendors, a district spokesperson said. The EPA will fund an additional 30 electric buses for the district through grants to third-party vendors, according to federal data.
As winter settles in, commutes to school — which often include walking several blocks and waiting for public transportation — have become harder for general education parents such as Marissa Lichwick-Glesne, who traverses the city to see that her son gets to his second grade classroom.
When her son Laike, 7, was accepted to Lenart Regional Gifted Center in the Chatham neighborhood, Lichwick-Glesne was worried about the travel time from their Northwest Side home in Norwood Park. But when CPS said Laike would be bused to and from school daily, she and her husband enrolled him.
In the fall, Lichwick-Glesne was one of scores of parents to receive word that CPS would not be able to provide busing for general education students across the district due to a bus driver shortage, part of a national issue facing school districts.
Just before winter break, CPS said busing would not return for the remainder of the 2023-24 school year, despite making hiring efforts such as increasing wages and holding job fairs.
“We fully understand how frustrating this news will be for many of our families, and sincerely empathize with the challenges and inconvenience that this situation has caused,” CPS said in a Dec. 21 email.
CPS reports that district buses are transporting more than 8,200 students — 8,180 diverse learners and 129 students in temporary living students — and providing transportation stipends to an additional 3,903 students.
General education students in magnet or selective enrollment programs, who tend to travel to schools outside their neighborhood, can apply for free Ventra cards and companion passes for a parent to be used on the Chicago Transit Authority system.
But that leaves approximately 5,500 students without busing, according to a CPS spokesperson, and parents say the policy does not protect low-income or middle-class working families who do not have the flexibility or time to transport their kids to school daily.
The Chicago Teachers Union applauded the EPA grant as a step in the right direction for increasing accessible transportation for students while decreasing the environmental burden of students’ journeys to schools.
In a statement, the teachers union also said the funding will further allow CPS to hold private bus vendors accountable for additional electric buses that will replace current diesel-powered fleets.
The announcement about a continued lack of busing was a reality check for parents struggling to make time to transport their children for several months and hoping for an end in sight.
With his wife often out of town for work, Asif Ahmed usually coordinates his 9-year-old daughter Petra’s transportation from their home in Logan Square to Hawthorne Scholastic Academy in Lakeview.
Sometimes Petra joins a carpool with other parents and students, but other times Ahmed drives her in the family’s sole car, which he said they bought after Petra lost her busing to school.
“We moved to Chicago from Los Angeles with the hope that we would not have to spend time sitting in cars,” said Ahmed, who commutes to his job in the suburbs by Metra train. “Having the school bus was really a huge lifesaver in the sense that we wouldn’t have to buy a car.”
A CPS spokesperson said offering stipends to general education families was not sustainable for CPS, citing a projected budget deficit for the next school year.
Districts across the country have suffered from bus driver shortages and have taken various steps to increase hiring. Wages for CPS bus drivers now range from $22 to $28 and can include sign-on bonuses.
The commutes for Lichwick-Glesne total about four hours each day. By the time Laike gets home, he has only about two hours to eat, complete rigorous homework, and watch a few minutes of TV before going to bed, his mother said.
Lichwick-Glesne worries how the travel might be affecting Laike’s energy. “He hasn’t spoken about it, but he does sleep on the train,” Lichwick-Glesne said. “I can only assume he’s tired.”
Lichwick-Glesne has taken it upon herself to retest Laike, in hopes he can place into a school closer to the family’s home. Just this week, she kept him home from school for a day, choosing to not take on a two-hour commute after an overnight snowstorm.
Lichwick-Glesne has epilepsy, which leaves her unable to drive a car, and with her husband commuting to work in the suburbs, public transportation is her only option to take Laike to school.
The district could not provide information on student transfers caused by transportation issues.
The low-emission buses bought by CPS will serve communities that are most affected by poor environmental policies and historical disinvestment, according to a statement from the city.
Electric buses will serve neighborhoods on the South and West sides, including Pilsen, Little Village, McKinley Park, New City, Back of the Yards, North and South Lawndale, and Chicago’s Calumet region.
The purchase and implementation of the buses will occur over a three-year period, beginning in April, while the district continues to meet requirements of the grant award, the district said.
The Clean School Bus Program, established by the administration of President Joe Biden, aims to improve air quality for children and families and advance environmental justice. So far, the EPA has distributed funding to replace more than 5,000 diesel-fueled buses across the country through grants and rebates.
