September 25, 2025
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Last week, we wrote to you to share some updates on the status of bus drivers, schedules, and routes for the Pulaski County Special School District. Since then, we have made improvements in each of these areas.
As you know, PCSSD has had an ongoing shortage of bus drivers for the district, and despite our best efforts over the summer and the beginning of the school year, we still need at least 20 additional drivers. This issue has affected pickup and delivery times of our elementary and secondary schools.
School start time has played a major role in the delays. Drivers are sometimes arriving 10 to 15 minutes before the official start times to deliver students and must wait until school personnel open our buildings. This delay continues to compound from elementary to secondary schools. To remedy this, elementary campuses will now open at 7:05 a.m. rather than 7:15 a.m., and secondary campuses will open at 7:45 a.m.
Additionally, we have consolidated several routes to ensure efficiency in picking up and delivering our students. As we continue to move forward, we will become more consistent with our pickup and delivery times.
As a final note, PCSSD has approved a measure that would require drivers to adhere to their contractual agreement with the district or face a fee for early termination. In some previous cases, drivers have completed required training at PCSSD then resign to take roles at other districts for higher salaries. With this new measure, drivers would be assessed a fee relevant to the recovery of training and operational expenses.
With nearly all of our student population using buses to travel to and from our campuses or school-related activities, we know the vital importance of a dependable transportation system to student success. This work will remain a priority.
Thank you all for your continued support of and dedication to our PCSSD students.
Respectfully,
Jeff Senn
Superintendent