The Chelsea School District’s Transportation Department is aiming to be best it can be in order to meet the needs of the students and district.

Over the past few years, many districts in Michigan have had challenges in their transportation departments, especially with having enough people to drive the buses. Chelsea has had some of the same challenges, but it’s been working hard to address them and improve.

Earlier this month, Corrina Horton, the Transportation Supervisor for the Chelsea School District, gave an update report to the school board. The Sun Times News (STN) followed up with Horton to ask some questions.

Horton said it would be great to let families know they can still use Bus Drivers and Monitors to keep their fleet rolling each day. 

“Currently, we are very close to having enough drivers, that said, we would add more and be able to add additional routes, shortening ride times,” Horton said. “We would like to add 2 – 4 additional routes.”

In her report, Horton said they have brought one special needs route back in-house, which had been outsourced. This is now saving money for the transportation department. They are also preparing to split another special needs route down, creating less ride time for those students. 

Horton told STN, “A special needs route is a route that is used to transport special education students.”

She said in the past, “We have used outside vendors to provide some of these services as we are short drivers.”

In the area of buses, the department recently received two new 2025 buses. Horton said they are excited to utilize them once radios and camera systems are installed. In a recent check of the overall bus fleet, Horton said their mechanic Chris Smyth “did an awesome job preparing and working with the state inspector.”

She said 25 buses were inspected with 24 green tagged and 1 red tagged.

“The red tag was not something that could easily be seen to prevent,” Horton said. “With repairs to do, we are hoping to have that bus up and running in another month at most.”

And like drivers, the mechanic area can also use a little help. Horton said they are looking to get additional help in the mechanic shop during the day to help with the maintenance of the aging fleet.

STN asked what is something the community should know about the transportation department.

Horton said, “We are a great department. We are like a family. If you don’t want to drive a bus, we need you as a bus monitor on our special needs buses. It’s a great department to work in!”

Photo of the Chelsea School District Transportation staff. Photo courtesy of CSD