Remote Learning: Dutchess County School District Cites Bus Driver Shortage for Switch to Remote

As global and local guidance with regard to COVID-19 continue to shift regularly, one local school district has been forced to switch to remote learning as a result of a bus driver shortage due to positive COVID cases on the staff.

On Wednesday January 5th, the Arlington Central School District had to dismiss some students early in order to provide transportation as they managed a bus driver shortage.  Notice was sent out that Arlington High School would be dismissing at 1pm, while all elementary and middle school students would remain in school until regular dismissal times.

Along with the news of the early dismissal, the Arlington Central School District community was made aware that all students would be switching to online learning on Thursday January 6th and Friday January 7th.

The official email sent to students and their families indicated that nine bus drivers in the district had tested positive for COVID on Wednesday morning alone, causing a shortage for the necessary number of drivers to meet the transportation needs of the large school district.

The plan for today, Thursday January 6th includes an asynchronous learning day where assignments will be posted by staff on the google classroom platform, and students will need to complete the assignments on their own.  For Friday January 7th, students will switch to a synchronous plan where they will be able to interact with their teachers remotely rather than doing schoolwork on their own.

It was said that the Arlington Central School District will reassess the bus driver shortage situation on Friday the 7th to determine their plan moving forward.

With the remote learning plan in place for Thursday and Friday, Our Lady of Lourdes High School posted an announcement on their social media indicating that though they plan to remain open both days, those students attending Lourdes from the Arlington Central School District would be responsible for their own transportation to and from the school.  They apologized for the inconvenience, citing that the situation is beyond their control.

The news of the switch to remote learning comes the day before Arlington's scheduled job fair, that is set to be held January 6th from 11am until 3pm.  Promotion for the fair indicates that the district is hiring for bus drivers, bus monitors, custodial workers and substitute teachers.