McDowell County public schools launched a targeted effort in late October to hire substitute bus drivers after recurring absences left buses parked and students without transportation. The McDowell County Board of Education scheduled a job fair for Oct. 27, 2025, at its Welch office to provide information, accept applications and facilitate hiring, according to a WVVA news report and the school system’s live-feed records.

The need for substitutes is not new. Records on the Mount View High School live feed show Bus 191 was canceled for both morning and evening runs on Sept. 24, 2024, and was canceled again on Oct. 15, 2025, when families were advised to provide transportation. Those disruptions underscore persistent gaps in a county where rural geography and high poverty compound transportation challenges for students who depend on buses for daily school access.

School officials have emphasized the tangible consequences. Tonya White, the district’s director of human resources, has pointed to the daily disruptions from parked buses that affect attendance and routine for families. Adam Grygiel, director of transportation, has outlined flexible training options to help applicants who lack commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) qualify for school driving positions. WVVA’s report noted that training will be available for people without prior CDL certification and that application details were being publicized ahead of the job fair.

The shortage has public health and educational implications for McDowell County. Missed or delayed school attendance can impede academic progress and access to school-based services such as free or reduced-price meals, counseling and health interventions that many children in economically stressed communities rely on. For families in isolated hollows, sudden transportation gaps can force difficult choices between work, childcare and getting children to school on time.

Beyond immediate impacts, the recruiting drive highlights larger systemic issues: workforce shortages in rural areas, limited local access to licensing and training programs, and the budgetary constraints faced by cash-strapped school systems. The Board of Education operates bus routes across wide, sparsely populated terrain, and chronic driver shortages magnify safety risks and strain remaining staff.

The Board’s job fair, set for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Oct. 27 at the McDowell County Board of Education building, will test whether local outreach and on-the-job training can fill critical vacancies. Officials suggested flexible training could lower entry barriers for residents who may be able to step into driving roles with support, though the scale of the response and the number of hires will determine immediate relief.

Further verification and monitoring will be important to measure the campaign’s effectiveness. Board meeting minutes from Oct. 20, 2025, could clarify whether the recruitment initiative was formally adopted at the district level. Tracking attendance at the job fair and subsequent hires will indicate whether the strategy reduces route cancellations in coming weeks.

For a county where reliable school transportation intersects with education, public health and economic stability, the outcome of this hiring push will have outsized local consequences. Restoring consistent bus service would ease burdens on families, protect students’ access to services and help stabilize daily life in McDowell’s scattered communities.