MENTOR, Ohio — A Northeast Ohio middle school was forced to close on Friday after a shortage of bus drivers in the district.
Mentor Schools sent out an email late Thursday night informing families that Memorial Middle School would be closed on Friday "due to a large number of absences in the transportation department causing us to not be able to cover all of our routes."
While other schools in the district remained open, officials said that they anticipated transportation delays on Friday across the district.
Additionally, the district is asking anyone who is interested in working as a bus driver or a substitute bus driver to contact Heather Wisen at wisen@mentorschools.org.
The full announcement sent out to families can be viewed below:
Good evening. This is a message from Mentor Schools. We apologize for the late notice, but we are closing Memorial Middle School, tomorrow, Friday, May 26. We need to make this decision due to a large number of absences in the transportation department causing us to not be able to cover all of our routes. We realize this may cause an inconvenience, but we do not have the staff available to transport all of our students to school and this move keeps all of our elementary schools open.
So again, Memorial Middle School will not be in session tomorrow for students– students are off– Friday, May 26th. All staff should report per their usual schedule. All of our other schools will be open per their typical schedule, although we do anticipate transportation delays possible across the district.
Our dedicated drivers have been working extremely hard to get all of our students to and from school safely each day, as we experience a staffing shortage. As always, student safety is our number one priority.
If you know of anyone who is interested in working as a bus driver or substitute bus driver, please share information that we are hiring. For more information, please contact Heather Wisen at 974-5260 or wisen@mentorschools.org. As with all positions in Mentor Schools, all applicants will undergo background checks and receive necessary training.
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