New Haven’s public schools reopened from winter break Monday morning with 18 percent of bus drivers calling out sick as the Omicron variant swept through the state.
That led to a suggestion from Superintendent Iline Tracey that parents ferry their kids to school this week, if possible.
“Due to the number of bus drivers out because of COVID-19, New Haven Public Schools bus routes will have significant delays for arrival and dismissal beginning today, January 3, 2022, and will continue through the week,” Tracey wrote in a message emailed Monday morning to parents and caregivers.
“Families, we apologize for these delays. However, if you can drive your child to school this week, please do so as this would help alleviate some of the delays. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience that this will cause and thank you for your patience as we continue to provide services for our students and families.”
The high number of call-ins resulted from drivers testing positive for Covid-19, quarantining, or displaying symptoms and awaiting test results, said schools spokesperson Justin Harmon.
Monday morning’s routes ran better than expected, Harmon said: All children were picked up, with the longest delay running to a half hour, “which is significant.”
“We’ve been fortunate — some neighboring districts are closed today, so we’ve been able to get some bus drivers assigned” to New Haven to help with the crunch, he said. Also, as with past daily shortages, the district combined some drivers’ routes.
“This is going to be a day to day situation for the next couple of days. So far we are off to a better start than we anticipated,” Harmon said.
Well done New Haven