Lee County School District aims to improve school bus route efficiency

From dealing with blaring alarms to making breakfast, parents rush their kids to the bus stop every morning … but that’s where the rushing stops.

They wait. And wait. And wait for the school bus.

And in the afternoon, after school? The same thing. Lee County parents know this pattern well.

WINK News anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen spoke with the district about how they’ve dealt with the problem over the last two years.

Believe it or not, the district has made great strides. In 2022 they were short 129 drivers. Last year, 87. This year, they’re short 75.

The district has made some effective changes over the last two years. Of course, any shortage of drivers will impact students and their learning.

So WINK News asked district leaders what will change this year.

Boarding the iconic big yellow bus is an American staple.

Cathy Roberts would know. She was a bus driver for years, and now she has the crucial task of training new Lee County drivers.

“Driving is easy, the hardest part is getting acquainted with the kids, getting to know ’em,” said Roberts.

Roberts is teaching that and bus safety to five new drivers. Once trained, they’ll reduce the district’s driver shortage from 75 to 70.

They’re needed. Last year afternoon drop-offs were only on time 72% of the time.

Jared McKinney, the Executive Director of Transportation for the Lee County School District, is working to tackle that problem. He’s no stranger to Lee County school buses.

“I rode the school bus up until my 9th year here in Lee County,” McKinney said.

Things have changed a lot since McKinney last rode the bus in 2000.

The latest change is new bus routes for middle schoolers.

“We reduced 64 of the routes from the middle school, which means we’re not going as far to travel, so they’re actually a little bit more manageable and more affordable for our drivers to make it,” said McKinney.

The school also raised the bus driver’s salary from $17.50 to $18.90 an hour.

But WINK asked McKinney what if these measures fail, and students and parents are still left waiting?

“Well, we meet every week,” said McKinney. “We see where our problems are, we look to see where we can find solutions.”

The school district hopes to adjust in real-time to any issues that may come up. During the first two weeks of school, there won’t be any changes, so the school district can fully assess how well the bus schedule is working.

WINK also asked McKinney about the Where’s the Bus app and whether they’d fixed all those glitches parents dealt with last year. He said if parents have an issue, call them, but like all technology, the app will sometimes have problems.