All of our efforts are in the best interest of the health and safety of our students and staff." Will state efforts work? "While none of us want to be dealing with COVID-19, the reality is that we still are. "Our staff are hardworking, dedicated employees and it is inappropriate that anyone would physically engage with them while they are doing their job," district Superintendent Shawn Van Scoy wrote in a letter to parents and staff about the Sept. In some districts, school bus drivers and monitors are also facing frustrated parents fatigued by the ongoing pandemic and masking requirements that accompany safety practices currently in place at area schools.Įarlier this month, for example, a parent was arrested after she allegedly attacked a bus monitor in the Gananda Central School District in Wayne County who asked her son to wear a mask on the bus, as is required by district officials. The job combines relatively low pay, unusual hours, the stress of controlling dozens of children, some of whom are disruptive, and the ability to safely operate a large vehicle. Will it work?: New York announces plans to address school bus driver shortage. The virus simply exacerbated the problem. The ongoing pandemic didn't cause the bus driver shortage that has vexed school districts across the Rochester region, the state and the nation. That number has "slowly declined," to 72 over the past decade. When Navedo started driving for RCSD, the district employed about 100 school bus drivers. He said he prayed often, and said that there were moments he was afraid he would not return to his family.īut his health improved, he recovered and later returned to work to again transport students for one final year, amidst the ongoing pandemic. That precious cargo you are transporting is the most important thing."Īt the start of the pandemic, Navedo contracted COVID-19 and became ill, spending nearly a week in the hospital. "It's not just steering the wheel, that's the easy part. "It's a big responsibility to drive a bus," Navedo said. Navedo, 62, retired last month for a variety of personal reasons, but mostly because, after 30 years, "it was time." When Wilbert Navedo of Gates became a school bus driver for the Rochester City School District more than three decades ago, he knew the job meant more stability, better pay and health insurance coverage for his family. Watch Video: RCSD staffers cheer on bus drivers on first day of school
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