Orange County schools adjusting bus routes to help address shortage of drivers

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Public Schools officials are changing up their bus routes this school year to help deal with an ongoing shortage of drivers.

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District leaders say the adjustments are the best way to avoid delays.

Orange County is just one of many school districts that have struggled with the shortage. This year, they say they’re about 100 drivers short and that changes are needed to help schools get off to a smooth start.

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“We looked at all of our routes, in order to determine which ones and how we needed to move those routes to become more efficient,” OCPS Chief Communications Officer Scott Howat said of the route changes. “We’re hoping that a lot of the changes and things that we made will help to ensure that buses are on time and are able to pick up.”

The District is also changing how routes are assigned to drivers.

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Typically, only new or altered routes are opened up for a driver bid process. However, this year, every bus driver will have to bid on their route with priority given to drivers with seniority.

District leaders say they’re trying to keep drivers on familiar routes and taking special-needs populations into consideration.

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Drivers will have their routes finalized Thursday and Friday.

They’ll begin practicing the routes on Tuesday, which falls within the school district’s normal training timeline.

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