VERMILION, Ohio — High school students in Vermilion will need to find their own way to class this school year. Vermilion Local Schools announced it’s suspending busing for grades 9-12.
District leaders said the move comes after several challenging years hiring bus drivers.
“I talk to superintendents frequently and they’re all experiencing the same issue,” said Vermilion Superintendent Dr. David Hile.
He explained the problem began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the district has been aggressively recruiting in recent years to bring its staffing levels up.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into it. But it’s a shortage and there’s the fact that it’s a difficult challenge to get qualified,” he said, pointing out rigorous requirements for part-time work.
He said a CDL for school bus driving requires four written exams and a driving test. Additionally, Ohio drivers must complete 15 hours of classroom work and 12 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction. He believes the lengthy process discourages some applicants.
In the past two years, Vermilion Local Schools has had to consolidate six bus routes due to the lack of drivers. Mechanics and the district’s director of transportation have also needed to substitute drivers almost daily.
“We have to have drivers to run routes. We can’t run routes if we don’t have drivers,” Hile said.
Retirements and resignations over the past year forced the district to make even more drastic changes. During the 2025-2026 school year, busing will not be available for high school students.
“The problem is it’s the kids that are going to have to suffer,” said Vermilion resident Jeanmarie Gross.
She told News 5 her family specifically moved from Elyria to Vermilion when she was a freshman so she could ride a bus to the high school. She worries about the impact on families that live outside of town.
“The kids that live out in the township, they really need it,” she said.
The superintendent said it was not a decision made lightly.
“I feel for the ones who struggle to do that because not everybody will have that opportunity,” said Hile. “But we simply do not have another option for them.”
Some neighbors said they view the busing cuts as mismanaged resources.
Hile said, “It’s not a financial issue at all. It’s simply a lack of manpower.”
Ohio only requires busing for public school students in grades K-8 who live more than two miles from school. The district hopes this year’s suspended service to the high school is temporary.
The superintendent said that since he sent a letter to families about the change, the district has received five applications for bus driver positions and one applicant for a bus mechanic position.
“It did open some people’s eyes and some people are taking advantage of applying for jobs,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get the drivers that we need. But if we don’t, there’s literally nothing else that we can do.”
