MENTOR, Ohio — Laketran is stepping up to help Mentor Public Schools until multiple bus driver positions are filled.
The public transportation and the public school district have reached an agreement to cover two bus routes. Both of these routes are shorter ones that serve special needs students. One bus is running only this week, but the other will likely run until the end of the year.
Laketran said this agreement moved quickly simply because they wanted to be a good neighbor.
They recognize the difficulty of finding school bus drivers right now.
With Laketran drivers having the same training as those of school bus drivers, the transportation group felt that it could be part of the solution.
"One of the best things about Lake County is that we are all friends and neighbors here," Laketran CEO Ben Cappelle said. "We help each other out when we need to. We don't like to see any of our neighbors struggle at all. It was kind of one of those things where we had drivers and the ability to do it."
Cappelle said this is meant to be a temporary solution.
Mentor Public Schools stated that they received numerous applications for school bus drivers following last week's closure.
RELATED: Mentor Public Schools closed because of bus driver shortage
The assistance from Laketran should help the schools until those individuals are trained.
Laketran said they would be willing to help with busing in the future.
