Maine School Cancels Classes Due to Bus Driver Shortage

One Maine school had to cancel all it's classes yesterday because there weren't enough bus drivers to to go around. Kermit S. Nickerson elementary school in Swanville, part of RSU 71, had no other choice but to send out text alerts at 6a Monday alerting parents that there would be no school.

The other area schools within the same union include, Belfast, Morrill and Searsmont, however they weren't affected. Apparently there were several drivers in Swanville that were unable to come to work yesterday forcing the school to call on it's backup drivers, but even then, there weren't enough to go around. A full-size school bus in Maine requires at least a class-B license and passenger/school bus endorsements.

School officials indicate this was a very unlikely scenario and that the chances of it happening again are minimal. However, in the event it does, they've put a plan in place for the other drivers in the district to cover the routes in Swanville.