Bus driver shortage causing problems for area school districts

School districts across the nation and here in the Capital Region are facing bus driver shortages. So Massachusetts is tapping the National Guard to help, by training service members to serve as school bus drivers.

The New York Association for Pupil Transportation tells NewsChannel 13 there are many hoops a bus driver needs to jump through, and organizing the effort could be difficult.

Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler would like to see the National Guard help with a dire shortage in his district, Pearl River.

He has several ideas for how to get more drivers, including giving districts a list of unemployed drivers with a CDL, and making it easier to get a CDL.

"We need to have third-party testing, so that we can expedite the process by which somebody gets certified with a CDL license and an S endorsement in concert with the Department of Motor Vehicles," said Lawler.

NewsChannel 13 reached out to the Pittsfield School District to find out whether they would use the help of the National Guard. We did not hear back.