On August 5, 2022, Fox C-6 announced that due to a severe bus driver shortage, some students would be ineligible for transportation services in the upcoming school year, based on how far they live from their school. 

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about bus service for this school year. 

Below the horizontal line, is a message sent from Fox C-6 superintendent, Dr. Paul Fregeau, to the Fox C-6 Family on August 5 regarding the transportation changes. 

August 5, 2022

Dear Fox C-6 Family,

Fox C-6, along with many school districts in our area and around the country, is experiencing a severe bus driver shortage. Despite aggressively working to hire and retain bus drivers, we have been unable to fill all of our openings for bus drivers. As we approach the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, we are approximately 13 bus drivers short of being able to fully staff our bus routes from last school year.

The state of Missouri requires public school districts to provide transportation for students who live more than 3.5 miles from their school. We have been very fortunate in Fox C-6 to provide bus service for all students for many years. However, as a result of this extreme workforce shortage, we have to make some changes to our transportation services and reduce the number of bus routes provided for the 2022-2023 school year. Specifically, the District has made the difficult decision to eliminate bus service to neighborhoods within approximately one mile of all elementary schools and within approximately two miles of all secondary schools. Families who are impacted by this change have been notified directly. 

Based on these changes, it is possible that a neighborhood will have bus service for one level of students (elementary or secondary) but no bus service for students in the other level (secondary or elementary). 

The decision to limit bus service is not based on the district’s finances. Fox C-6 has the budget and the school buses needed to provide transportation. We just do not have enough drivers. This is the unfortunate reality we are facing, along with many school districts in our area and across the country.

Prior to making the difficult decision to eliminate some bus routes, the District took every step possible to continue offering bus service to all students. We have combined bus routes to allow for more efficient use of our existing transportation staff. As you will remember, in the 2021-2022 school year, we adjusted school start times to give our staff time to drive additional bus routes each day. Additionally, Fox C-6 has been aggressively recruiting more bus drivers. To address this workforce shortage, our school board recently approved an improved pay scale for new and current drivers, along with other support staff positions. However, despite all of these efforts, we are still understaffed in our transportation department.

Finally, I would also like to let you know that the school start time and end time have been slightly adjusted for two schools this year to allow for more efficient transportation. The school day at Fox Elementary and Rockport Heights Elementary will begin at 8:00 am and end at 3:00 pm each day. Families at these schools can expect additional communication from the building principals with more information. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Transportation Department directly at (636)296-5331 or contact your child’s school. 

Respectfully, 

Dr. Paul Fregeau
Superintendent
Fox C-6 Schools