HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Hillsborough County Public Schools bus drivers went out on the roads Wednesday morning for one last route practice before school begins Thursday.
It could be a challenging year for the drivers as they start out school amid a bus driver shortage.
Many Hillsborough County school bus drivers are doubling their routes to get students to class. That’s going to be a lot more work than drivers are used to.
Buckle up for the possibility of school bus delays in Hillsborough County.
The public school’s Interim Superintendent Van Ayres told 8 On Your Side that a bus driver shortage leaves the district with about 200 positions to fill.
“I want our families to know we have a transportation team of 1,400, Ayres said. “We currently have 600 bus drivers that are there, that are working overtime to ensure that our students get to school on time.”
Drivers have been conducting test runs in the days before school starts to prepare for double the routes.
“They’ll finish one run, as we call it, and then move on to the next run to the next school,” Ayres said. “So they’re working extremely hard.”
Thursday will be the most telling when drivers actually go to get students for the first time on this new schedule.
“We value all of our bus drivers that we currently have,” Ayres said.
Download the ‘Here Comes the Bus’ app to track your child’s bus, so they hopefully aren’t waiting outside too long.