The Lee County School District has filled all 555 bus driver positions ahead of the first day of school, eliminating the previous 67 vacancies that plagued the district.
The district says the success comes from a new “Safety Start Initiative” that reorganized bus routes from a four-tier system to three tiers, making routes more realistic for drivers to complete on time.
“We want to make sure the routes we gave them gives them enough time to complete a route, drop the kids off at school and go through our next route with time in between to make sure the kids get on time,” Chief Safety, Security, and Fleet Operations School District of Lee County, David Newlan said. “Remember, by getting kids to school on time, it’s more instructional time as well. It’s what we want for our kids.”
LEE BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE
Last year, district bus drivers were on time only 59% of the time in the afternoon, creating challenges for students, parents and schools throughout our community…