Osceola County Schools to address bus driver shortage in meeting

The Osceola County School Board will discuss hiring, retention, and wages.

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - The Osceola County School Board will meet Tuesday to address an ongoing school bus driver shortage.

It is the subject of a workshop on Tuesday afternoon. Hiring, retention, wages are all on the agenda. For example, they will talk about sign-on bonuses, referral bonuses, and staying bonuses.

Officials say that the most significant challenge for the district is finding qualified school bus drivers.

Since the beginning of the school year, there have not been enough drivers. Routes have had to be combined while some buses have had to make two trips just to make sure that they can transport about 23,000 students each day.

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Officials said that staffing challenges come from the low-pay, part-time hours, and stringent licensing restrictions. The school system has actively held job fairs and advertised that they are hiring on the back of the school buses.

The school board is looking to hire people with a lot of patience and love for kids.

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