(Missourinet) – Missouri is not only dealing with a teacher shortage but also a school bus driver shortage. Assistant Commissioner Kari Monsees (mawn-sess) says the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is requesting 361 million dollars to help fund school bus transportation costs in the next state budget year.
“The pressure on the costs have gone up pretty significantly in the last couple of years as districts do whatever they have to do basically to identify bus drivers and try to pay a competitive rate to try to get them to serve our students across the state, let alone inflationary costs for the buses themselves, and fuel prices,” says Monsees.
The line item request represents a 14-million-dollar, or four percent, increase over the current budget year.
(Photo courtesy Missouri Independent)
