West DSM News

A western Cedar County high school football coach has a couple of ideas about why Iowa and the rest of the nation is experiencing a school bus driver shortage.

West Branch High School junior varsity head football coach Matt Hills recently took to social media to express those ideas, which included driver's license requirements and mask mandates.

Waukee Schools Chief Operations Officer Kirk Johnson | waukeeschools.org/

"Two obvious reasons this is happening," Hills said in his Thanksgiving Day Facebook post. "1) DOT made additional requirements to be certified; even as a license Class A CDL driver, still there are additional requirements & endorsement. 2) mask requirement. I was going to certify & drive this year, but I won't wear a mask while driving. No thanks."

Hills has been the junior varsity head football coach at West Branch High School since March 2017, according to a school news release at the time. The West Branch Bears compete in the River Valley Conference.

Hill's Facebook post linked to a KCRG news story the same day that reported some students on Johnston School District's bus routes, consolidated from 60 to 53 in an effort to keep services going, have been dropped off at home as much as 30 minutes late.

KCCI reported that Johnston County is searching for solutions, such as starting classes earlier or later at some schools, but the school board isn't buying into it.

"The board is not too receptive to this because it would put some students on the bus as early as 6:22 in the morning and some students home as late as 5 p.m.," the district's Communications Director Lynn Meadows said in the KCCI news story.

Waukee Schools Chief Operations Officer Kirk Johnson told KCCI about much the same difficulties in that school district, in no small part because Waukee has about 600 more students this year.

"We're actually operating fewer routes with more kids this school year," Johnson said.

Johnston and Waukee both are considering changes to which students qualify to ride the bus to and from school.

"We may have to extend that walk zone out where we don't allow students to be bussed," Johnson said. "And students would be encouraged to walk to school, bike to school."