Dalton School Bus Strike on hold
First Student in Ohio says drivers' union has agreed to postpone strike as long as negotiations continue
UPDATE:
FROM DALTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
“We want to express our apologies for the inconvenience of the strike between the bus drivers’ union and our transportation provider, First Student. We know this situation has put tremendous hardship on our families to find alternate means of transportation for their children who ride school buses.
We want to make it clear that Dalton Public Schools is not involved in the negotiations between the bus drivers and First Student. We have a contract with First Student to provide transportation for our district, so the bus drivers are not our employees. We have contracted with First Student for more than 20 years. All questions regarding information on how the negotiations are going or the reasons for the strike should be directed to First Student or the ATU Local 1212.
Dalton Public Schools is committed to having in-person school for all students who can get to school beginning Tuesday, May 16, through Friday, May 26. For students who cannot get to school, our teachers will continue virtual learning so that those students’ education can continue. While we are continuing to diligently work to find alternate ways to provide transportation for students, the real challenge is finding drivers with a specific commercial license that permits transporting students.
As we are able to confirm the ability to provide buses and run routes, we will communicate that information directly with parents and on our website, www.daltonpublicschools.com/updates.
We encourage families who have transportation to assist other families by carpooling. We know that approximately 3,700 students ride our school buses daily; therefore, we expect the traffic in our drop-off and pick-up lines to be dramatically increased. We ask parents to have patience as our staff work to safely and efficiently unload and load students at our schools.
We appreciate everyone’s understanding, patience, and support as we navigate through these unforeseen circumstances.”
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FROM DALTON CITY SCHOOLS:
On Tuesday, May 16, and Wednesday, May 17, Dalton Public Schools will be running regular bus routes for Dalton Junior High School and The Dalton Academy students.
Due to the limited nature of the bus drivers/buses that are available, we are prioritizing the Dalton Junior High/The Dalton Academy routes due to the need to have 8th graders present to take state-mandated tests, which require 95 percent of student participation.
We are still working on transportation options for Thursday, May 18 going forward and will be communicating that information as soon as it is confirmed.
All other students who have transportation should be in school. Any student who does not have transportation should log on to Canvas virtually with their teacher.
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ORIGINAL POST:
DALTON, Georgia (WDEF) – The school bus strike is on hold in Dalton.
First Student (based in Ohio) announced Monday morning that bus drivers have agreed to hold off striking as long as negotiations continue.
First Student says they will meet with ATU 1212 leadership each evening to continue bargaining.
The company operates school buses for the Dalton City School system.
Dalton moved to virtual classes for Monday in anticipation of a strike beginning today.
They will resume in-person classes on Tuesday, regardless of the strike situation with the drivers.
Superintendent Dr. Tim Scott posted “I would encourage you to try to find alternate ways to and from school for your children who ride the bus. If you can provide transportation for your student, please consider helping another family that may not have transportation. Carpooling will greatly help relieve some of the heavy congestion we expect during the drop off and pick up at each school with the increase in car rider traffic.”
“While the issues around the district trying to find alternate transportation for students is challenging, we are continuing to work with the state and local officials to find a solution.”
“It is our intention to continue school as scheduled through Friday, May 26. We have state testing continuing at our secondary level that students need to complete as well as makeup testing for some students throughout our elementary schools.”
First Student officials said on Monday:
“Our goal remains to avoid any disruptions in service. We know how difficult even one day without yellow bus service would be for families. We do expect to operate some bus routes tomorrow. We have 20 drivers who have committed to reporting to work. The district will let families know which routes will be running.”
