Submitted by Ferndale School District
The Ferndale School District has notified bus drivers of department-wide layoffs. Those layoffs are effective September 1st.
Ferndale School District Superintendent Dr. Linda Quinn says, “This is gut-wrenching. Delivering this news is very sad for me and for all of us in the Ferndale School District. The reality is that we just don’t have students to transport so we don’t have work for our bus drivers. I want our staff and community to know that we see these as temporary layoffs.”
The State of Washington funds transportation personnel differently from other categories of employees. School districts receive funding based on ridership — a function of the number of miles driven and the number of students transported. Last spring, the State made an exception and continued to pay for drivers even if they were doing other work. That exception no longer exists.
District leaders plan to reassess the transportation plan regularly to determine when drivers will be able to return to their routes.
