NANKIN — Four or five Mapleton bus drivers are set to depart from the school district within the next 12 months.
That is half — or possibly more than half — of the current eight bus drivers currently working for the district.
Some are departing for retirement, while others are moving out of the district, Supt. Scott Smith said Monday afternoon.
“Trying to find bus drivers has been very difficult,” Smith told school board members. “To find four or five over a course of 12 months is going to be difficult.”
Lisa Hodges, the district’s transportation and food services director, has been tasked with reviewing the logistics of double routing — essentially meaning a single school bus would complete two consecutive routes as opposed to one.
Smith said he wanted to explore the option to find out if the district could operate with fewer bus drivers and what a potential bus schedule may look like.
Preliminary results show double routing wouldn’t save the district any money, the superintendent said.
“The kids would probably be on buses a lot longer, so we don’t really have a good solution with double routing,” he said. “We’re just going to keep looking at options.”
Smith said he will try to have Hodges attend the board’s meeting in May to continue the discussion and present any new potential solutions.
Board members approve resurfacing, concrete replacement contracts
In other action Monday, the board approved two contracts for parking lot and concrete projects around the district campus.
A $66,579.36 contract with Ashland-based Mc. B Paving and Sealcoating was approved to resurface the upper high school parking lot and to sealcoat the lower parking lot.
Permanent improvement funds will be used to pay for the project, which is expected to be completed in July.
Smith said the district began a rotation of replacing all of the asphalt around the campus about five years ago.
“We had potholes. We had all kinds of issues with the original asphalt from the building project in the early 2000s,” he said. “This will finish it up.
“We’ve gotten around to everything so now we just need to maintain and keep the asphalt in good order.”
Board members also approved a $22,897 contract with James Co. for concrete replacement and repair around the district campus. This project will also be funded by permanent improvement funds.
Smith also updated the board on the new generator purchased for the middle school and high school.
The $74,000 purchase was authorized during an emergency meeting in October 2025. The district’s previous generator, which was nearly 20 years old, broke down the previous month. Maintenance personnel could not find the necessary replacement parts.
The new generator — which will provide backup power for emergency lighting, coolers and fire suppression systems — is still estimated to be installed in early May, Smith said.
