Alachua County Public Schools in need of bus drivers, parents irritated over delays
A shortage of bus drivers for Alachua County Public Schools continues to be a problem, with parents from the Hidden Oaks community among those experiencing regularly late buses.
Parents say the buses have resulted in their kids being late to school and arriving home late. Sometimes, buses don't show up at all.
“I get the transportation issue. Everybody’s under the gun on it, but it’s affecting our kids. This is not fair to them,” said Melissa Oshea, a mother of two students who has been frustrated with last-minute notices about delayed bus routes.
Oshea isn't the only parent dealing with the problem. On Monday, the district had 11 late morning buses and 10 late afternoon buses. On Thursday morning, there were seven late buses.
School district officials say the problem is a shortage of bus drivers that has only worsened since the start of the school year. The school district needs to hire 44 bus drivers, said Darin Jones, director of transportation for the school district, in an email to The Sun.
"We are still in need of bus drivers," Jones said
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One parent got email to expect delays of 90 minutes or more
Oshea has a daughter at Fort Clarke Middle School and a son at Buchholz High School. On Oct. 26, she received an email from the transportation department that said her son's bus would "be up to 90 minutes late or longer, no driver. Please be prepared to have alternative transportation."
“I work an hour from my children, to be told that at three o’ clock in the afternoon — I’m a single mom, that’s ridiculous,” Oshea said.
Oshea, who works in Lake City, said the delay resulted in Jones himself having to take her child home from school.
Jones said the district consolidated its bus routes to 110 from 121 routes over the summer. He said the district has 109 drivers employed, including regular route drivers and substitutes, to cover those routes.
Since the start of the school year, he said, the district had 14 bus drivers resign or retire. In an effort to recruit more drivers, the district has increased pay for drivers to $17.50 from $13.90 an hour.
The district holds open interviews to recruit drivers every Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the district office at the Alachua County Public Schools warehouse, located at 1800 SE Hawthorne Rd. A job fair will be held to recruit drivers on Nov. 14 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the district office.
In the meantime, parents say problems with routes are causing a safety issue.
Kristian Beach is the mother of two girls attending Fort Clarke Middle School who also lives in Hidden Oaks, a mobile home community. Beach said she has a health disability that affects her ability to drive.
When school buses are late sometimes, she said she's forced to keep her kids home or use the city bus as an alternative.
She noted that shootings have happened in the nearby Holly Heights apartment complex, including a shoot-out "minutes after the children were picked up" by a late-arriving bus.
"And I'm like, 'You do know if any of these babies had been shot, that's your fault because you put them in that situation,'" Beach said.
Gershon Harrell is an education reporter at The Gainesville Sun. He can be reached by phone at (352) 338-3166, by email at Gharrell@gannett.com or on Twitter at @GershonReports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County Public Schools facing bus driver shortage, bus delays
