The Boulder Valley School District on Wednesday sent an email to parents warning it may need to cut services this school year if more bus drivers are not hired soon.

The email said the district needed 16 more drivers or they’d be forced to cut routes, meaning some eligible students wouldn’t be able to ride the bus.

“For many of these students, the school bus is the only way to get to school,” the district said in the news release.

Boulder Valley School District spokesperson Susan Cousins told The Denver Gazette in an email that the district currently employs 134 bus drivers, but need 150 to avoid cuts. The drivers transport students across a district that spans 500 square miles.

It was not immediately known which routes would potentially be impacted if the district were to cut routes.

“We are still evaluating various scenarios to determine the final impact,” Cousins told The Denver Gazette. “As we proceed with these decisions, we will follow the guiding principles established by our Transportation Advisory Board. These principles include assisting our under-resourced and underserved families, leveraging community partnerships for solutions, connecting families with safe transportation options, and providing clear and timely communications.”

Cousins said the school district has a “robust Safe Routs to School program” that it will tap into if routes need to be cut, such as carpooling, free RTD transit where possible and organized safe walking and biking groups.

In June, the district said it still needed to hire 20 bus drivers, but had only added four, despite its recruiting efforts.

Nationally, school districts are struggling to hire bus drivers since the beginning of the pandemic. Research by the Economic Policy Institute showed last year that the number of bus drivers working in K-12 schools was down 15.1% since 2019, according to a report by the National Education Association.

The NEA report said that low pay and the health risks for older school bus drivers, who would potentially be more vulnerable to the effects of COVID, have been major factors for the national school bus driver shortage.

Boulder Valley School district said it is offering wages that range from $25.49 to $29.55 per hour, a $1,000 sign-on bonus after 90 days and health and dental benefits for drivers working at least 20 hours per week.

Drivers are encouraged to apply even if they have no driving experience, the district said, because it will provide more than 100 hours of paid training.

“Losing school bus transportation creates an additional burden for families and may impact attendance for some students, making it more difficult for them to receive an education,” Cousins said. “Bus drivers really do make a difference in the lives of students, and we really need people to apply.”