School buses line up for pick-up outside Thunder Bay Junior High on Thursday afternoon.

A shortage of bus drivers at Alpena Public Schools and some recent changes to bus routes has caused concern in the community.

One stop at a trailer park in Long Lake has been temporarily removed from a bus route for pick-up and drop-off, Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said.

“We had a safety issue that we had to address in order to address it properly, we had to suspend pick-up and drop-off at that location,” Rabbideau explained.

He said the district needed to involve authorities to make sure it was safe to resume busing to that area, and that the stop should be added back to the route imminently.

“A big misconception out there is that the district is required to provide busing for students,” Rabbideau said. “Michigan to my knowledge has never mandated that schools provide transportation. If we do provide transportation, we must provide it to all students equally.”

APS is not the only district in Michigan facing a shortage of bus drivers. It is a statewide issue, Rabbideau said. When there are one or two openings for bus drivers in the district, it has a big impact, since students are spread over an area of 604 square miles.

At the APS board of education regular meeting on Oct. 27, Human Resources Director Michele Vilas reported that two bus routes had openings, and three bus drivers are in training with a fourth in the process of being hired.

“Our priority is to be able to transport our students, we’ve always worked from that philosophy,” Rabbideau said. “We want to do everything we can to give the best service. We are trying to address the staffing shortage. Our bus drivers work incredibly hard and care for our kids, and we hope the community recognizes that.”

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.