Suburban school district paying families $2,000 because they don't have enough school bus drivers
PLAINFIELD, Illinois - Another Chicago-area school district is paying parents to drive their kids to school, since they do not have enough school bus drivers.
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 is warning parents that they do not have enough school bus drivers to handle all the routes.
The shortage of school bus drivers is a national issue. Just a few days ago, Chicago had to start offering thousands of parents last-minute stipends totalling thousands of dollars to find other ways to get their kids to school.
Plainfield said that the district is offering parents several options depending on their student's situation:
- Parents of special education students might be able to get $1,000 per semester ($2,000 for the year) to find alternate transportation
- Parents who can get their children to school, but who cannot make the pickup time can take advantage of after-school care
- Parents might be able to be reimbursed $0.56/mile for transportation
- The district may pay day care providers to pick up children from school