In light of MCPS’ persistence to keep schools in person rather than temporarily switching to virtual learning, paired with the the recent and ongoing surge of Omicron, the most transmissible COVID-19 variant to date, rapidly increasing numbers of students, teachers and bus drivers are becoming infected with COVID-19 and unable to attend class, teach class or transport students to school, respectively.

Since the beginning of the school year, bus transportation has been a challenge. Hundreds of students in the county are unable to get to school in a timely manner or without parents being inconvenienced, if they’re able to attend at all. Over 90 of the 1,228 bus routes county-wide were cancelled shortly after staff and students returned from winter break. 

MCPS Interim Superintendent Dr. Monifa B. McKnight sent out an email in which she stated that the county is doing all they can to ensure schools do not return to virtual learning. In the same email, she said that she had been infected with COVID-19, but was able to work from home, unlike her employees. She said that “switching any school to virtual learning – even for a short period of time – will be a last resort.”

McKnight also said that the county was addressing driver shortages by having available drivers tend to multiple extra routes and prioritizing bus routes that transport differently-abled students. McKnight also apologized for “any stress this caused our staff, students, and community members.”

Because of one bus needing to take multiple routes, students are arriving to school late and having to stay after, complicating students’ and teachers’ abilities to stay on the same page and risking student’s being late to after-school activities. Security also has to stay longer to monitor students and ensure their safety.

The county has requested the Maryland National Guard to assist with public bus transportation due to the lack of staff; the National Guard has not accepted the request. States such as Ohio and Massachusetts requested transportation help from the National Guard in September and temporarily closed schools due to a lack of bus drivers.

Community members have been in distress following complications with students’ ability to get to school. MCPS mother Teri, @pinkandpainmom on Twitter, tweeted “Thanks Mcps for the great bus morning….  *angry, cursing emoji*”. Other county parents commented on the post sharing their experiences and frustrations with the unreliability of the bus routes. 

MCPS posts updates every night by 7 p.m. letting students and parents know which routes will not be in service the following day, so families have a few hours to change their morning schedule. 

Students are also perplexed at the state of transportation. “Students have a right to ample transportation to get to public school, if that can’t be provided then the school should be closed,” senior Shelby Cantor said.

Eleven schools in the county closed for a short period of time following Winter break, as the Omicron surges at those schools were especially significant. Sixteen additional schools have shifted to virtual learning and will remain in such conditions from Jan. 20 through Jan. 29.