School bus service canceled for students in Greenwood neighborhood

SEATTLE — Starting Monday, bus service for students who live in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood will be canceled.

The Greenwood Elementary School principal sent out a letter to parents that read in part: “Due to the district’s bus shortage, Greenwood’s general education bus route will no longer be in service starting Monday, October 18th. We understand the major impact this has on our school community. We faced this issue last spring when we reopened, and our families were resilient and found ways to support safe walking routes to school each day.”

KIRO 7′s Essex Porter reported on Sunday that Seattle Public Schools might have to cut two-thirds of its general education bus routes because not enough drivers were complying with the state’s vaccine mandate.

That information was sent out in an email that said upwards of 100 drivers might be out on Oct. 18 as they had not met Gov. Jay Inslee’s requirement to be fully vaccinated by then.

The district said it would let parents know about bus routes before Monday.

Private company First Student handles school bus services for the district. It didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

A spokeswoman for Teamsters Local 174, which represents the bus drivers, said the number of unvaccinated bus drivers is likely fewer than 100.

She said the union encourages all drivers to get vaccinated.

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