With classes starting next week for hundreds of thousands of Iowa students, many school districts statewide are facing a common problem — a lack of school bus drivers. In northwest Iowa, Le Mars Community Schools Superintendent Steven Webner says they’ve tried to prepare for the inevitable.

Webner says this bus driver shortage was anticipated so they’ve tried to get ahead of the problem.

Bigger buses carrying more kids means longer rides both in the morning and the afternoon, and more time behind the wheel for the scarce number of drivers.

An online report shows a wide range of school bus driver salaries in Iowa, with some making as little as 16-thousand-500 dollars a year, while others may be bringing in up to 41-thousand.