Parents are concerned about a change to bus pickup and drop-off locations in the Berlin School District because of a shortage of drivers.

Because of changes to the routes, students must get the bus at designated meeting locations away from their homes.

“This is very stressful for a lot of parents, a back road, a busy street anywhere that doesn’t feel safe is probably not a place you would want your kid to wait for the bus,” said parent Kristy Seifridsberger.

Among the concerns are having to walk early in the morning and evening in inclement weather, encountering wild animals and the fact that are sex offenders living nearby.

“I’ve looked at the registry. I know we have three that are local within a five-minute drive of me. I’m going to be at the end of my driveway watching my daughter walk home from the end of our road hoping that nothing happens to her,” Seifridsberger said.

One speaker at a recent school board meeting asked the district to “take care of our kids.”

Interim Superintendent of Schools Maureen Long said the district is doing the best it can with the staffing shortages.

“Essentially, the bottom line is we can’t transport all of the kids door-to-door with the number of drivers that we have,” she said. “We are operating within regulation, and doing the best we can to get all of our kids to school from a reasonable bus stop.”

The district is working to train some of its bus aides to become drivers, which could help the situation. Then, the district could revisit the bus routes.