Just under seventy Amstelveen students have literally started the new school year with a backlog. Due to staff shortages, one of the three carriers in the region is unable to get students to school before the start of the school day. The college is ‘unpleasantly surprised’ and has expressed its ‘displeasure’ towards the carrier, she says in a letter to the council.
This mostly concerns pupils who use special education due to a physical or mental disability, and – often because of the distance – are unable to arrive at school on time with their parents. A total of 69 students were duped, more than sixty percent of the total number of students who use student transport at this company, according to the letter.
The college writes that it is displeased with the state of affairs, especially because it shared student lists with the transport company well in advance, and because ‘the contacts showed that the preparations for the student transport for the new school year were going well’.
Until last Friday, because then the carrier informed the as a bolt from the blue that it did not have enough drivers to get the students to school on time. The municipality has informed the parents of the students concerned.
Willemsen-The King
The council does not mention the name of the company, but an investigation by NH Nieuws shows that it concerns the Arnhem-based company Willemsen-De Koning. The municipality of Amstelveen has contracts with three carriers, but Munckhof and Van Driel tell NH Nieuws that although they are having trouble filling the grids, they are not yet in default in Amstelveen and the surrounding area.
Willemsen-De Koning confirms to NH Nieuws that the bad news to the municipality of Amstelveen from last Friday came from them.
‘More workload, less comfort’
When the dire shortage of drivers became clear earlier this year, NH Nieuws in conversation with driver Isabelle Hanraadts from Aalsmeer. Due to the lack of colleagues, not only is the workload higher than necessary, the students are also on the bus longer than desired, she said in April.
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It is not known exactly how big the driver shortage at Willemsem-De Koning is. NH Nieuws has repeatedly asked the company for a response, but Willemsen-De Koning has not yet responded. As a result, it is also not clear what time the children will be dropped off at school.
The Willemsen-De Koning website does show that the company is not only located in Amstelveen, but also in Diemen, Alkmaar and Haarlem and the surrounding area. looking for drivers.