PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County School District is considering some major changes to its transportation system. This comes after years of driver shortages and issues getting students to school on time.
Ahead of the 2023-2024 school year, the district initiated pay raises for bus drivers and were able to hire over 80 drivers to alleviate the problem.
Right now, the district said it has enough drivers, but is still looking to hire roughly 15 more to cover whenever a driver calls out of work.
Lidija Hasanovich picks up her niece from the bus stop every day and said during the 2022-2023 school year, the bus regularly arrived an hour late.
"It’s not normal to wait and not know when your child is going to be home. It’s a big issue because it’s taking away your time, especially if you have to go to work or somewhere you need to go," said Hasanovich.
Hasanovich says she is no longer having issues with late buses and is happy to see improvements are being made. The district adds that complaints have dropped by 2/3rds over the previous school year.
Many adjustments have been made over the last couple years by Pinellas County School leaders to make sure enough bus drivers are available.
"What a difference to go into work and not having to cover 90 runs with drivers, and not being late to first period every day, getting home at a decent time," said Stephanie Woodford, deputy superintendent for Pinellas County Schools.
The Pinellas County School Board is considering making several other changes to its transportation system, including a re-organization that includes evaluating whether certain jobs are needed.
"There will be some employees who have a position that we don’t see is as effective and efficient as it once had been, moving to other opportunities," said Kevin Hendrick, superintendent of the district.
District leaders said if some positions are removed, HR will place those employees in other positions.
They also said some employees could see raises while others could potentially see shorter contracts with less pay.
“Making sure they are efficient and making sure they are effective is something we have to do over and over again," said Clint Herbic, Chief Operations Officer.
Another change could be a big focus on training, turning the Lealman bus hub into a training location for drivers.
“We will re-stripe the parking lot at Lealman so they can practice driving around curbs and things like that," said Herbic.
The district could also introduce some new technology: electric buses to cut down on pollution, vans to reach students on the outskirts of the county, and an app that would allow parents to see where a bus is in real time.
"So the parent will be able to say that the bus arrived at a certain time, it will give a definite answer about it," said Director of Transportation T. Mark Hagewood.
District leaders said they want to see how effective these measures are before taking on more aggressive measures, like changing school start times.
Hagewood said a big reason for these changes is because of how dense Pinellas County is.
"So it does pose a lot of problems for us, especially with traffic, and being so densely populated, getting out of areas," said Hagewood.
Hasanovich said she’s hoping the district moves forward with many of these adjustments.
"I would like if we had communication with the bus systems," she said.
Pinellas County leaders say they are committed to finding new ways to alleviate transportation issues.
Currently, the district isn’t considering any changes to school start times, though they will need to make changes in the near future to comply with a state law. Last year, the district adjusted start times to a handful of schools to help make some school bus routes run on time.
Beginning in 2026, a new state law will require Florida schools to adjust start times. Middle schools won’t be able to start earlier than 8 a.m., and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
