Washoe County School District officials today said there would be major cutbacks to bus routes due to the ongoing driver shortage. General education students will have routes cut on alternating weeks. 

From the statement:

From Tuesday, February 22 to Friday, February 25, students in Area 2 will not receive bus service.

• Affected elementary schools in Area 2 are: Allen, Bennett, Bohach, Hall, Mathews, Palmer, Sepulveda, Spanish Springs, Sun Valley, Taylor, and Van Gorder.
• Affected middle schools in Area 2 are: Desert Skies, Shaw, Sky Ranch, and Traner.
• Affected high schools in Area 2 are: Hug and Spanish Springs. 

Again, the schools just listed will not receive bus service from Tuesday, February 22 to Friday, February 25 because of the critical shortage of drivers. The following week—from Monday, February 28 to Friday, March 4— bus services for students in Area 2 will be reinstated, and transportation for students in Area 3 and Area 4 will be suspended. 

Read the full announcement below

Good evening, Washoe County School District families:

This is an important message about District Transportation services for students.

Like other school districts across the country, we continue to struggle to keep enough bus drivers on our staff to cover all our routes for our students. Even with extensive recruiting efforts, incentives, and adjustments to operations, the severe shortage of bus drivers continues to worsen, and we must therefore make further reductions to our Transportation services.

Beginning Tuesday, February 22, bus service for General Education students will be suspended for one week at a time for each area of the District. This rotating schedule will help us reallocate drivers from the suspended area and enable us to continue providing full transportation services to students in the remaining areas of the District.

Students receiving Special Education services with transportation as a related service in the IEP including students at Picollo School and Turning Point, Newcomer English Learners, Children in Transition, and foster students will continue to receive transportation as required by federal law. 

Transportation for students attending AACT and the Wooster High School’s IB program will continue as these schools have students from varying areas.

Transportation for after-school programming and athletic competitions/games will also continue for all schools without interruption as the times do not conflict with other afternoon transportation routes. 

Transportation for the GT SWAS programs located at Caughlin Ranch, Gomm, and Hunsberger Elementary Schools will follow the rotating schedule. 

As a reminder, masks remain federally mandated on all school buses across the nation and mask wearing will be enforced on all of our district buses. 

From Tuesday, February 22 to Friday, February 25, students in Area 2 will not receive bus service.

• Affected elementary schools in Area 2 are: Allen, Bennett, Bohach, Hall, Mathews, Palmer, Sepulveda, Spanish Springs, Sun Valley, Taylor, and Van Gorder.
• Affected middle schools in Area 2 are: Desert Skies, Shaw, Sky Ranch, and Traner.
• Affected high schools in Area 2 are: Hug and Spanish Springs. 

Again, the schools just listed will not receive bus service from Tuesday, February 22 to Friday, February 25 because of the critical shortage of drivers.

The following week—from Monday, February 28 to Friday, March 4— bus services for students in Area 2 will be reinstated, and transportation for students in Area 3 and Area 4 will be suspended. 

A list of the areas and the rotation schedules can be found at www.washoeschools.net/transportation. 

While we hope no further changes will be needed, we will make sure to keep you informed should staff shortages worsen and further reductions be needed. 

Once again, for information, please visit www.washoeschools.net/transportation.