The Flagstaff Unified School District is halting school bus service for many students starting right after the winter recess.
Starting Jan. 4, the school district is halting transportation for all high school students living within the city and for students attending other area schools such as magnet programs.
The decision comes after the district was told by the Department of Public Safety that it needed to limit capacity to two students per seat for middle and high school students.
"We were able to make some adjustments to routes that allowed us to ease up some of our capacity issues but we weren’t able to do that just by rearranging bus routes," said Patrick Fleming, the district’s transportation director.
Fleming said the district is short of bus drivers, much like other many areas of the country. And for now, the district is paying for city bus permits to help families get children to school.
