Current and former school bus drivers in the Bethel School District hold an informational picket in Spanaway on Nov. 7, 2023. After waiting months with no solutions to a school bus driver shortage in the Bethel School District, about two dozen current and former bus drivers held an informational picket outside district headquarters on Tuesday.
They can’t even get a cost-of-living wage here," said Lisa Vercauteren, who also worked as a driver trainer in the Bethel School District before she left in 2022 for another job. "They get no support whatsoever. KOMO requested an interview with Superintendent Tom Seigel to ask not only about the drivers’ claims, but also about parents' concerns.
The nationwide driver shortage is impacting school districts across the country, and while we are doing everything we can to hire new drivers, we don’t have enough drivers to cover every route, every day.But the fact that other districts may have the same problem does not provide consolation, empathy or a solution to families struggling to get their kids to school in the Bethel School District.The superintendent’s letter also stated this this a "problem we are working to fix.