JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Friday, for the second day in a row, dozens of students were left waiting outside of West Jefferson High School by a bus driver who had called in sick.
Left trying to find another way to get home from class, some called taxis or Ubers, others walked or waited for family.
We found Jamyree Joseph, a senior, waiting with some friends to call a rideshare like he did Thursday.
“No, my bus didn’t come today,” Joseph said.
But it’s not just at West Jefferson High School. Across Jefferson Parish Public Schools, 49 bus drivers called out sick Friday. Some students missed school altogether because they couldn’t catch a ride to class.
Others, like Joseph, had to find their own way home.
“If I was in their shoes, I would have done the same thing. Because low pay, that’s not right. But have all these kids really suffer and wait, that’s not right either. So, I’m kind of in-between on the situation,” he said.
Jefferson Parish Public Schools knows it has a problem keeping bus drivers and keeping them happy. A huge sign at both the administration building and the transportation headquarters reads, “Bus Drivers Wanted: Competitive Pay, Great Benefits, Weekends & Holidays Off.”
But the drivers don’t feel the pay is competitive enough. Thursday, about ten drivers who had called in sick gathered to talk about the issue.
They tell Eyewitness News they’re running too many routes for not enough pay. They can’t even afford maintenance or gas.
“We’re trying to live and trying to eat. And right now it’s costing me money to keep this bus running. And cost of living is just getting at us,” one driver said.
Still, Jefferson Parish Public Schools has not released a statement about the issue or what it plans to do. And the district dodged our questions about how many schools are impacted, how many drivers are needed to finish a normal day of routes, or whether they had any alternative plans to get kids to and from school.
JP Schools did send out a text and robocall to families affected. Carolyn Arso says she’s lucky she could pick up her grandchildren from both elementary and high school. The kids’ parents got a text message from the district in the morning that their buses would not be running.
“I just be the chauffeur, I’m their Uber driver,” laughed Arso, as she waited for her granddaughter, who is a high school student at West Jefferson.
She says she knows many families aren’t as flexible.
“Half of them don’t have transportation to get their kids. So half of the kids gonna miss school,” said Arso.
While schools will excuse the absences of kids who can’t get to school, students are still pinned in the middle of the battle between the drivers and the district.
Drivers say the sick-outs will continue until they get an answer from JP Schools.