Start times at some Sioux Falls schools adjusted to offset bus driver shortage

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Several elementary schools within the Sioux Falls School District will shift their start and ending times next school year to compensate for an ongoing shortage of bus drivers.

A total of seven schools will adjust times, according to community relations coordinator DeeAnn Konrad, though schedules shift at most 20 minutes.

School Bus Inc., the company that contracts bus routes for the school district, has faced a shortage of drivers for several years. Officials say the changes allow fewer drivers to cover more routes. The district considered other options, but decided adjusting start times is the “least disruptive option.”

The following schools will see time changes when students return to school in August, according to Konrad:

Hawthorne: 7:40 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 20 minutes earlier
Lowell: 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 15 minutes later
Rosa Parks: 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 15 minutes earlier
John Harris: 8:05 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 5 minutes later
Cleveland: 8:05 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 5 minutes later
JFK: 7:40 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. (previously 7:50 a.m.-2:35 p.m.) – 10 minutes earlier
Oscar Howe: 7:40 a.m. to 2:25 p.m. (previously 8 a.m.-2:45 p.m.) – 20 minutes earlier