Hunter
02/17/21
The union representing bus drivers in the Iowa City Community School District are urging parents who have the ability to drive their children to school to do so to eliminate bus crowding.
The Daily Iowan reports that the buses were holding about 30 to 40 percent of the students that would normally be allowed, but they’re expecting those numbers to increase now that the district is going to 100 percent in-person schooling.
Teamsters 238 Chief Union Steward Dan Ramsey drives a bus for the ICCSD. He tells the Daily Iowan that the drivers won’t turn anyone away, but the safest thing is recommending that kids don’t take the bus to school if parents can get them there another way.
The district is recommending a maximum of 41 kids on a bus, which Ramsey says is unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The union is concerned about the safety of the drivers, of which at least a third are 65 or older.