BROOKFIELD — The need for bus drivers is being felt all over the county, and Brookfield school officials pointed to a shortage of them when a parent asked why transportation wasn’t provided for a school sporting event earlier this week.

During the public comment portion of Wednesday’s regular school board meeting, Cyndi Williams, a parent of a student in the district, questioned who was responsible for scheduling transportation for athletic events — saying the school’s bowling team didn’t have a way to get to its match on Monday.

“What’s the school going to do about it, though? Because we would never see the football team not get to a game,” Williams said. “Or a basketball team not get to a game.”

Superintendent Toby Gibson, who pointed out that the school was short on drivers, said that when it happens in the middle of the day, there wasn’t much he could do, adding that he was in Columbus for a conference.

Williams said the parents of bowling team athletes were worried they wouldn’t have transportation for Wednesday’s match in Garrettsville and would have to cancel, asking if parents would have to worry about making arrangements.

“3:00 after-school, 3:30, get them to their destination by 4 p.m. — a lot of us can’t do it, and kids can’t pile up in cars again like that,” Williams said.

Gibson said parents would either have to drive or the school would have to reschedule, pointing out that the district only has so many drivers — a common issue with all districts.

“Early matches, like bowling and golf, all start early. Those are stressors to the transportation supervisor because our drivers are out on routes at that time,” Gibson said. “If anybody misses, it’s impossible to fill that gap because the priority has to be to get kids home.”

Gibson said their current situation wasn’t ideal, and he didn’t have a solution.

He said hiring more drivers would be ideal — and they consistently try to hire more drivers — but nobody wants to drive a bus.

Board member Melissa Sydlowski noted the evening’s agenda had a resignation and leave of absence for two bus drivers, but no hirings at the position.

Gibson said they did provide a raise, and the contract for bus drivers is up at the end of the year, so the district will negotiate and try and find a way to bring more in.