St. Louis school district will pay families to drive kids to school amid bus driver shortage

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis’ school district is offering to pay some families to drive their kids to school as part of an effort to offset a shortage of bus drivers.

“We are excited to announce a new set of programs aimed at addressing the current challenges in transportation services,” Toyin Akinola, St. Louis Public Schools’ director of transportation, wrote in a Monday letter to parents, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Under the plan, families who have experienced “chronic bus absenteeism” this school year will receive gas cards for the next two weeks. Starting May 13, all families in the district “willing to transport their children” can receive $75 for each of the last two weeks of school.

The funding will be available to families whose students are not tardy or absent more than once a week.

In March, Missouri Central School Bus Co. announced it would terminate its contract with the district at the end of the school year. The relationship between the company and district grew strained after a noose was found near the workstation of a Black mechanic and an ensuing driver walkout snarled bus service for one of Missouri’s largest school systems.