Maine Schools Navigate Safety Upgrades, Driver Shortages as Students Climb Aboard

Maine's 1.1 million students returned to classrooms this week, and for roughly 80 percent of them, the school day begins and ends on a bus. This year, districts across the state are juggling three major challenges simultaneously: implementing safety improvements after last year's tragic deaths, recruiting enough drivers to cover routes, and absorbing a sharp increase in diesel fuel costs.

The tragic deaths that prompted action occurred just weeks apart during the previous school year. On November 21, 2025, 12-year-old Brayden Callahan was killed when the Rockland school bus he had just exited accelerated forward, dragging him beneath the vehicle. The driver, 66-year-old Jeffrey Colburn, had failed to extend the crossing arm—a safety device meant to prevent students from crossing directly in front of the bus—and was not watching the road after dropping the boy off. Colburn was later charged with manslaughter and accepted a plea deal resulting in a community service sentence.

Six weeks later, on December 16, 2025, 5-year-old Simon Gonzalez died in Standish after his arms became caught in the bus door as he tried to board. He was dragged as the vehicle pulled away.

Those fatalities—the first student deaths while boarding or exiting a Maine school bus in more than five years—shocked the state and prompted immediate action. Governor Janet Mills signed an executive order in January creating the Maine School Transportation Safety Commission, which spent the spring studying the issue and released its final report on April 30.

Among the commission's key recommendations: requiring crossing arms on all school buses and mandating their use at every stop, installing technology that prevents bus doors from closing on a student's limbs, restoring mandatory physical examinations for drivers, and standardizing driver training across the state.

The commission's work came too late for the legislative session. Lawmakers had already adjourned, and a bill that would have codified some of the recommendations into law failed to pass. However, the safety measures found a path forward through the budget process. Governor Mills' supplemental budget included nearly $6 million for districts to retrofit buses with crossing arms and anti-pinch sensors.

Since the funding became available approximately one month ago, districts have begun applying. According to the Maine Department of Education, 13 districts have requested reimbursements to retrofit 46 buses as of Monday. The program offers up to $3,000 per bus for equipment and labor costs, and districts can also seek reimbursement for work completed in the prior year. The program runs through June 30, 2027.

While the funding addresses equipment, Maine's schools continue to struggle with a persistent shortage of bus drivers that predates the safety concerns. In recent weeks, districts from Kennebunk in the south to Aroostook County in the north have advertised open positions, and some have had to restructure routes to compensate.

Westbrook has been particularly hard hit. For three years, the district has relied on "double runs" at some schools, where drivers make one trip, drop students off 15 minutes early, and immediately head out for another circuit. That arrangement requires schools to have staff on hand for supervision earlier than usual.

The district has tried alternative approaches to fill transportation gaps. This summer, the Westbrook City Council approved a one-year pilot program providing free Greater Portland Metro passes to up to 700 high school students. The passes serve students within the 1.5-mile walking radius of school who are not eligible for traditional bus service. The city will spend up to $34,000 on the passes—a fraction of the $200,000 or more that purchasing and staffing additional school buses would cost.

"We're not seeing any reduction in traditional bus ridership because of it," said Michelle Foye, Westbrook's transportation director. "These are students who weren't going to have bus service anyway."

When the program launched at the end of August, the district had four bus driver vacancies. As of last week, that number had dropped to three.

"Bus drivers just aren't out there," Foye said. "There aren't a lot to choose from."

Other districts have taken different approaches. The school district serving Cumberland and North Yarmouth rearranged routes and called on other staff members with commercial driver's licenses to fill temporary gaps. The district still had two driver openings as of Monday, but the first day of school proceeded without disruption.

Cape Elizabeth has managed to avoid the worst of the shortage, and transportation director Monica Cooke knows exactly why. Her district offers full-time positions with benefits and pays drivers $32 per hour—significantly more than many neighboring districts can afford. As a result, Cape Elizabeth retains its drivers. The youngest member of the current driving corps is 58; the oldest is 82.

"We've been fortunate," Cooke said.

The driver shortage adds financial pressure at a time when fuel costs are already straining district budgets. Diesel in Maine now averages $5.67 per gallon, up from $3.89 at the same time last year—a jump of nearly $2 per gallon. Prices have climbed since spring, influenced by the ongoing conflict between the United States and Israel, which has disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Maine's diesel costs run slightly above the national average.

Districts typically set their transportation budgets in spring for approval by voters in early summer, making it difficult to adjust mid-year when fuel prices shift. In Biddeford, Superintendent Jeremy Ray budgeted an additional $17,000 for fuel costs, but he told WGME he expects prices to climb further and may need to find savings elsewhere in the budget.

A national survey of school districts conducted in May found that more than half were already over budget on fuel spending. Forty percent had consolidated routes to improve efficiency, and a quarter had reduced the total number of routes to save money.

As Maine's students settle into the new school year, districts are balancing immediate operational pressures against longer-term goals of safer, more reliable transportation. The state funding for safety retrofits offers a step forward, but the ongoing shortage of drivers and climbing fuel costs mean that many districts will continue to face difficult decisions in the months ahead.