School Bus Driver Count Drops 21,000 Since 2019, Disrupting Student Rides

The number of people employed as school bus drivers in the United States fell by 21,176 between August 2019 and August 2025. The workforce dropped from 223,252 drivers to 202,076, a decline of nearly 10 percent. This reduction has led to operational changes for families in several states.

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a shortage of drivers forced thousands of students to switch to remote learning for three days in April 2026. South Carolina’s largest school district sent more than 7,000 delay notifications to parents during the first 10 weeks of the 2025-2026 school year. Victoria Encarnacion, a parent in Waterbury, Connecticut, said her daughter missed her bus pickup about once a month. On one occasion, her daughter waited outside, realized the bus was not coming, and walked for an hour to different stops before going home.

“She called me and told me, ‘Mom, I quit,’” Encarnacion said. “For her to go through that effort just to make it to school, it’s impactful for me to be like, all right, you know, just stay home.” Encarnacion described the uncertainty of the daily commute as stressful for her family.

Mark Medina, a regional director with the National Association for Pupil Transportation, said drivers often feel they are in a lose-lose situation. He noted that the job requires transporting a bus with 50 children while managing multiple variables. “They’re doing the best that they can,” Medina said. “It’s not an easy thing to transport a bus with 50 kids. There’s a lot happening.”

Medina stated that pay has improved in recent years. The association is currently working to secure retirement cap waivers and tax relief for drivers. He cited split shifts and changes in risk factors for an older workforce due to COVID-19 as hurdles to returning to pre-pandemic staffing levels. “There’s a figure it out attitude in the school transportation world,” Medina said. “And I believe that if that mindset continues, we’re going to be all right.”

Lawmakers introduced the Driving Forward Act in 2025 to remove a specific licensing barrier. Currently, all commercial driver’s license holders must identify engine parts and explain how they work. Lawmakers argue this requirement is designed for long-haul trucking and adds three to four days of extra training. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration stated the exemption would not affect safety.

The bill aims to simplify the hiring process for new school bus drivers by removing that engine knowledge requirement.