Bus driver shortage leads to changes to schedule changes in Madison County Schools

The 2026-2027 school year will look a lot different for a few schools across the county, as the Madison County School system announced it will have five elementary schools with an earlier school day. Daniel Boone Elementary and Silver Creek Elementary will continue with their current schedules. Boonesborough Elementary, Kirksville Elementary, and Waco Elementary will move to a 7:30 a.m. start time. These schools will dismiss at 2:20 p.m. each day.

Like many school districts across the state, MCS has faced the challenges of a bus driver shortage. According to ky.gov, the Pupil Transportation Training Program currently has approximately 8,519 certified public school bus drivers statewide. While the district has tried to adjust, these were only short-term solutions and by adjusting the school day times for these three additional elementary schools, it will allow the district to have more flexibility in scheduling bus routes, which will alleviate some of the driver shortage issues we are currently experiencing.