A combination of existing vacancies and the new wave of Covid-19, which is sidelining workers, has resulted in reduced services at some local governments in Williamson County.
Hutto ISD has canceled all bus routes “until further notice,” according to a letter sent to parents, students, and staff on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, we lost more transportation staff over the weekend due to COVID-19. Due to our driver shortage, we have decided to cancel all regular routes until further notice. We are directly notifying all affected riders,” wrote Superintendent Celina Estrada Thomas.
Buses for special needs students will continue.
Thomas added, “We understand this will be a difficult adjustment for families who rely on bus service. We will make accommodations for late arrivals, waiving tardies where needed. To support late arrivals the cafeteria staff will be on stand-by to serve get-it-and-go breakfasts so students are able to proceed directly to class to begin the instructional day.”
Meanwhile, the City of Taylor, which is about nine miles east of Hutto, is suffering staff shortages at its library, permitting office, and municipal court, forcing departments to reduce service hours or close entirely.
Kendra Dubee, the city’s communications coordinator, told Fox 7 that the problem was “a combination of a staffing shortage and people being out because of sickness.”
Additionally, Williamson County’s Tax Office announced the closure of all of its lobbies on January 12, “due to a staffing shortage.”
Meanwhile in Austin, the superintendent of the Austin Independent School District made a plea to parents to step up as substitutes as the district struggled with teacher absences. AISD also deployed central office staff to work as substitutes, a move also reported in Hays County.
Additionally, Austin’s public transit service, CapMetro, said last week that it would reduce the frequency of bus service on some routes due to sicknesses or quarantine among bus operators. CapMetro had already slashed service on some routes as it struggled to find enough workers.
