Jim Thorpe Area School District and its new transportation provider, Rohrer Bus, expressed optimism Wednesday night that any early school year kinks are being worked out as September rolls on.

Rohrer continues to face a shortage of bus drivers for Jim Thorpe, a problem it said is echoed across many regions of the country.

“We’re still five drivers short of being fully staffed here,” Dave Schrantz, Rohrer vice president said. “That might sound worse than the reality. We have those routes filled with drivers from other districts. It’s not just here. It’s happening everywhere.”

Efforts are underway to address the staffing gap, with several new drivers in various stages of the hiring process. One driver, Schrantz said, is scheduled for testing soon, while others are in classroom training or preparing to start.

In addition to staffing challenges, route optimization has been another focus for the district. Complaints from parents about late buses have prompted changes to make routes more efficient.

“We took two stops off one bus and put them on another,” Lori Lienhard, district director of transportation, said at Wednesday’s school board committee meeting. “This change led to a noticeable reduction in delays, as the time dropped down a lot after the adjustment.”

Superintendent Robert Presley said the district is making an effort to communicate with parents as it works out any issues.

“I understand the frustration,” Presley said. “When you’re waiting at a bus stop, and the bus is 15 or 20 minutes late, I get it. I’ve been there. The district’s focus is always to get students to school and back home safely, even if there might be a delay along the way, and we have been doing that.”

Presley said other districts around the state don’t always have an alternative if the original plan hits a snag.

“The district I live in, I just get messages in the morning that say, ‘Bus 35 is not running today. Too bad, so sad.’ Here, we’re trying our best,” Presley said.

To improve the overall experience for parents and students, the district is working on implementing an app that will allow parents to receive real-time updates on any delays of the bus their child is riding.

Looking forward, Drums-based Rohrer said that it plans to increase community outreach efforts to recruit new drivers and engage parents.

Schrantz said the company would look to set up tables at community events like Jim Thorpe’s recent back-to-school night to inform the public about job opportunities.

“This is probably one of the most complicated part-time jobs out there, when you look at the credentials you need,” Schrantz said. “We’re starting our drivers here at $24 per hour. That’s our highest hourly rate among drivers. We’re trying to get the word out there.”