JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County students looking to ride the bus this upcoming school year must register now to secure their spot, and leaders are working to ensure that we don’t have delays or shortages going into the school year.
“Just to see their smiling faces as they board the bus on and off in the mornings and afternoons, it just melts my heart," Quintrell Watson, a Durham School Service bus driver, said.
This will be Quintrell Waston’s fifth year as a Durham School Services bus driver.
“I started off as an assistant and then I fell in love with the kids, So I thought why not just transport the kids," Watson said.
Starting this school year, Durham is now responsible for over 400 bus routes, after the school board voted to approve a new contract that reassigned some routes from the district other provider Student Transportation of America.
"We heave been providing service in the Southside and Mandarin area for many years. The new part of town will be the Arlington and Beaches starting this school year," John Ziegler, the director of business development for Durham School Services, said. “We stepped up the pay and benefits for drivers and monitors so we think that will be a good starting point."
Durham School Services leaders say they currently need to hire between 20-to-30 more drivers but that number could change depending on how many students sign up for bus services.
"We can never have enough and we will keep hiring," Ziegler said. "We always try to keep at least 10% or more of standby drivers for emergencies or if someone calls in sick or things like that."
First Coast News reached out to Student Transportation of America to see how many bus driver openings they had. While they could not provide specific numbers leaders provided the following statement:
"STA remains dedicated to growing its Duval-based team. We are pleased to share we have already welcomed several new drivers and will continue to grow our team in the coming months as we prepare for the new school year and student routes. We are prioritizing active recruitment and retention efforts and have several recruiting events planned for the coming weeks."
Students must register each year in order to ride the bus. Registration can be done through a Parent Focus Account. Bus stop assignments will start displaying on July 29.
As far as delays, Durham leaders say they try to have a surplus of drivers to ensure all routes are covered, but they expect delays during the first school week as driver navigate the new year.
“Those first couple of days, there will be a little bit of a delay, just all those things I talked about, more kids showing up to the bus then we were expecting right, so just be patient and we’ll get through this first days and get better each day and we’ll have a great school year," Ziegler said.
Durham School Services is hosting a hiring event July 11 at 1205 Monument Road.
DCPS' registration is open until July 15.