JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Jefferson County Schools are warning parents their child’s school bus could be canceled on very short notice because of the on-going shortage of drivers.

The District is currently short more than 70 drivers.

The situation has become so bad the district is using non-drivers to fill the gaps. Mechanics, supervisors and staff members are now driving some routes.

Families who use the bus system are being told that temporary cancellations to some routes may occur at any time.  

Since school started, the district says it has seen a significant drop in applications and has been unable to recruit, hire and retrain enough drivers to maintain the current route schedule despite its efforts to advertise, spread the word and attract candidates.

The district asked parents to have a back-up plan in place to transport their child if their bus is canceled.

Parents should also sign up for the notification service ‘Jeffco Connect’ to keep track of route cancellations.

The Governor of Massachusetts has deployed the National Guard to help drive buses in that state.

Public schools aren’t the only group having issues with driver shortages. Recently RTD had to cancel dozens of trips due to staffing issues.