More than 90% of school districts nationwide are still reporting bus driver shortages, and in Ohio that's continuing in part because public schools must transport non-public school students. There are 7,000 fewer bus drivers than before the pandemic, but some districts are running more routes for private and charter school students than their own students.
Before the pandemic, Ohio employed 25,706 active bus drivers. But by August 2025, that number had plummeted to just 18,817. Doug Palmer, who consulted on school transportation for the Ohio School Boards Association until last year, said in an interview there are several reasons why.
"It really started in 2018. That was when more stores started doing home delivery. People that want to drive for a living have other choices now," Palmer said. He added that bus drivers are paid less than the median American worker, and often are part-time with unpredictable schedules.
Plus, Palmer said that the driver workforce is aging rapidly, with more than half of drivers over 55.
More than 66,500 nonpublic and charter school students were bused by public schools in the 2022-23 school year, according to the most recent data available. That's brought longer bus routes, and Palmer said some districts are operating more routes for non-public students than for their own kids. That's led some schools to consider other options, such as paying parents to transport their kids. But Palmer said that's costly.
“When the minimum was $250 for payment in lieu of transportation, the state reimbursed the districts $187 of that. So there was funding from the state to the school, to the parents," Palmer said. "Now the state has eliminated that payment.”
“Everybody wants to start around 8 o'clock. Nobody wants to start at 10 o'clock when there's buses available. So there's that time crunch that everybody wants to go at the same time.”
State lawmakers are looking at other transportation ideas, including countywide busing systems.
Schools also say since state funding for school bus purchases was eliminated in 2009, districts have had to absorb nearly $1.7 billion to replace those buses, leaving less money to hire drivers.
