Chicago Public Schools softball team forced to forfeit quarterfinal game for lack of school buses

CHICAGO (WLS) — Like many in our space, the Hancock Faculty Prep Hovering Eagles softball staff has been impacted all season by a nationwide faculty bus driver scarcity. However final week they felt the sting even deeper, as they had been pressured to forfeit their quarterfinal metropolis match sport at Lincoln Park Excessive College as a result of Chicago Public Colleges stated no buses had been obtainable.

“It has been actually irritating and unhappy for the staff as a result of we have grow to be so shut and labored so exhausting this complete yr,” stated participant Alyssa Lopez.

The staff requested to reschedule the sport however had been denied.

“It is past irritating. The ladies put all this work and energy into acting on the sector, and it is taken away from them,” stated head coach Doug Barnes.

So Lopez, who was named to the CPS all-city staff, took to Twitter to enchantment to the district.

“It is not simply this one sport. It is not simply Hancock. It is lots of totally different colleges. And it simply continues to occur again and again, and individuals are simply brushing it apart and saying it is okay,” she stated.

In an announcement, CPS stated it is “… needed to make the tough determination to prioritize transportation for teachers…” and that “…The motive force scarcity has created some challenges for sporting occasions throughout the District, a difficulty that’s not restricted to at least one neighborhood.”

Hancock performs once more in a few weeks when the state regional match will get underway, however already the staff has been instructed by CPS there isn’t any assure a bus will probably be obtainable.

Including to the problem, IHSA guidelines require particular insurance coverage for groups that carpool. Hancock is now scrambling to search out authorized transportation to maintain their season alive.

Full assertion from Chicago Public Colleges

Chicago Public Colleges (CPS) goals to supply all college students with a high-quality and equitable training full of alternatives to take part in athletic competitions amongst many different extracurricular actions. We acknowledge that the experiences and classes realized on the taking part in discipline are necessary to a well-rounded academic expertise and we wish to guarantee that each scholar, no matter their faculty location, has entry to sports activities and the power to play in video games. We’re sorry to listen to each time a faculty should forfeit a sport for any cause, however significantly resulting from a scarcity of transportation. We stay dedicated to discovering methods to handle the nationwide bus driver scarcity and its affect on District operations and search for methods to make sure that a transportation situation doesn’t affect gamers and the outcomes of video games.