JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County Public School Board unanimously voted to approve a new bus contract it hopes will help alleviate its ongoing driver shortage.
The driver shortage has led to bus delays, which have persisted since the first day of school.
“This has required us to buy a cell phone for our sixth grader which is not something we wanted to do but because of the bus scheduling being so haphazard and parents not knowing where their children are sometimes at 6:30 at night," a DCPS parent said at Tuesday night's school board meeting.
DCPS says bus contractor, Durham, will take 220 bus routes from Student Transportation of America. It will impact the areas around Fletcher, Terry Parker, and Sandalwood high schools.
The new contract won't start until next year. This year, DCPS said it has been consolidating bus routes to guarantee routes have drivers.
DCPS said it's short 56 drivers and believes the new contract will help with the ongoing issue.
“The plan that Durham put forth in their proposal discusses what type of things they plan to do to retain and recruit drivers," a DCPS administrator said during Tuesday night's meeting.