ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Wednesday evening, Orange County Public Schools placed a call to student families asking that parents drive their own children to the first day of classes Thursday, if they could, in order to lessen the local impact of a nationwide bus driver shortage.
The district would really prefer that parents drive their kids to school for the first few weeks as bus ridership balances out, or that patience is at least given during this time while the district’s transportation team gets up to speed, the message stated.
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Parents were told to expect some late buses regardless, and were thanked in advance for that patience, in the message.
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The district’s message went on to address ongoing recruitment efforts for bus drivers, pitching the idea of becoming one to listeners.
“We appreciate your partnership and patience during the nationwide bus driver shortage. Our recruitment efforts continue and we are still in need of bus drivers. If you or anyone you know is interested in joining our Transportation team, please visit us at ocps.net and click on the Careers link on the front page of the district’s website,” the message said.
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In Brevard County’s school district, some maintenance workers were recently up in arms over a $5-an-hour raise just for bus drivers, bringing their starting pay to $20 an hour.
“I feel like we’re kind of being left behind,” one Brevard Public Schools employee said at a school board meeting in June.
Brevard County Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell said that with 90 driver openings at the time, jobs needed to be filled or else his district’s students would also face longer rides to school, or no ride at all.
“We are in a crisis situation with the lack of bus drivers so the idea was to move as quickly as possible,” Rendell said.
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