APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) School districts and bus companies in the Fox Valley are also scrambling to comply with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and CDC guidance.

This school year will be different when kids board buses.

Lamers had to let drivers go because busses stopped running and now because of this continuing pandemic and now some of their busses won’t have drivers for the fall.

Mike Weihing with Lamers Bus Lines says, “We are looking for people right now. If there’s anyone that is off of work due to COVID-19 and you don’t know if you’re going to have a job come back. We are looking for drivers right now.”

Social distancing and facemasks are being recommended for schools and most likely busses, which could complicate things this school year.

Weihing says, “We’re working together in partnership with the school districts. We’ve been having meetings with them and continue to have more meetings scheduled in the future. Right now its a very fluid situation.”

It’s not just the bus companies that are in flux, the Appleton Area School District says their plans for the fall are still up in the air.

Despite DPI’s recommendations and surveying parents, Judith Baseman, AASD Superintendent says
“We are currently in the process of preparing for several different scenarios this fall which includes fully in-person learning, blended learning, and fully virtual learning. We do know that the ongoing COVID-19 health emergency will continue to affect multiple aspects of our educational offerings as we continue through the summer and throughout the next school year.”

It is expected that Wisconsin DPI will release guidance on Friday related to transporting students to and from school.