Solving Chicago’s Bus Driver Shortage for Special Needs Students


Solving Chicago’s Bus Driver Shortage for Special Needs Students

By Shelitha Beacham

It is no secret that differently abled students face several challenges to accessing education, from finding learning methods suited to their needs to ensuring safety in the classroom. But what is often overlooked are the hurdles special needs students experience simply getting to and from school. Unlike a typical bus route, special needs students require personalized transportation provided by highly trained drivers and aides who pick them up and drop them off at their front door. But the combination of the nationwide school bus driver shortage – which is being felt acutely here in Chicago and Northern Illinois – and the continued increase in students with special needs has made providing this specialized form of transportation even more challenging.

At the same time, the unemployment rate for African Americans in Illinois sits at 7.7%, nearly twice the national average. This is an inexcusable statistic at a time when there are ample opportunities for black men and women to establish a well-paying career as a school bus driver, a rewarding job that offers a flexible schedule and the opportunity to make a difference in our communities. It is essential that we find new and creative ways to both attract school bus drivers in the African American community, but that we prioritize recruiting the type of patient, emotionally intelligent individuals who have the temperament to work with and care for students with special needs.

Finding more specialized drivers has become an even bigger priority as the number of differently abled students continues to grow. In 1990 – the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law – roughly 4.7 million students with disabilities were enrolled in grades K through 12 in the U.S. In 2022, that number increased to 7.3 million. In Chicago alone, there was an increase of roughly 2,500 special needs students who needed school bus transportation from 2023 to 2024, a 32% passenger increase.

Further adding to the complexity is that drivers who transport special needs students are both harder to recruit and require more training than typical bus drivers. While any school bus driver bears a tremendous amount of responsibility for the safety and well-being of the students they transport, those who work with special needs students must be able to provide the routine and structure that these students need and thrive on. Things like safety consciousness, consistency, reliability, and trustworthiness are key attributes that every driver transporting students with special needs must have. However, finding individuals with these specific skillsets adds additional layers to our recruiting, screening, and hiring process, making these jobs tougher to fill when there are already widespread bus driver shortages.

And these shortages don’t just impact students. A recent survey from the University of Chicago’s NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a third of parents nationwide have missed work because they’ve been forced to drop off or pick up their children from school, and 11% of parents have even lost a job because of school transportation responsibilities.

As the leader of human resources and community outreach for Sunrise Transportation, a school bus company that specializes in transporting differently abled students in Chicago and across Northern Illinois, I’ve witnessed first-hand the difficulties these students confront when their needs cannot be met, but I’ve also seen the incredible things that can happen when they are.

Because of the tailored, personalized service we provide, our drivers and aides form close bonds with students and their families. In fact, many drivers transport the same students throughout their entire academic careers, and are often invited to birthday parties, graduations, and even weddings for the students they’ve driven for years. This level of experience, familiarity, comfort, and trust are critical to the work we do.

Which is why we are constantly exploring new ways to recruit drivers who are patient, empathetic, compassionate, and able to exhibit calm in stressful situations to reduce anxiety for our passengers and their families. We are actively pursuing new avenues to find and recruit the drivers we need and that our passengers deserve, including partnering with churches like Broadview Missionary Baptist Church and other African American community organizations to find exceptional individuals who may never have considered a highly rewarding career as a bus driver for students with special needs.

Chicago is facing a dual crisis that is impacting the lives of our students and our communities; we don’t have enough school bus drivers and there are too many black men and women out of work. To meet the moment and raise up our communities, we are collaborating with African American organizations in Chicago to attract and recruit new drivers and aides who can support and enrich the lives of special needs students and their families ensure they are afforded the same opportunities, no matter their circumstances.e

Shelitha Beacham is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Sunrise Transportation, a leading outsourced student transportation services provider for children with special needs in Northern Illinois and Connecticut.

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