GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – The first day of school in Clay County became a nightmare for some students and parents left without school buses.
The county told you News4Jax that a driver shortage was exacerbated by a communication outage. The district found out at the last minute that multiple staff wouldn’t be available Tuesday and the communication tool which does robocalls to families went down at the same time.
So Clay County scrambled to find drivers, and that included some people assigned to be answering a transportation hotline for confused parents. That meant everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
“We’ve had a bad day,” said Clay County Schools Transportation Director Derald Sweatt. “We lost six bus drivers and three monitors between 4 and 5 p.m. (Monday) afternoon for various reasons. So we already had the plan in place. (We were) Short on drivers already, but then we had a mess on our hands.”
Parents caught in the middle commented on our News 4 Clay County Facebook page and flooded our newsroom with calls.
Clay County hopes to have a better day Wednesday. If you have problems again, call 904-336-0111. While it was understaffed Tuesday because of all this, News4Jax was told that should be fixed Wednesday morning. They can also visit the district’s transportation page, which includes information on how to apply to become a bus driver.
Parents who may have questions about their child’s bus transportation can reach a live person by calling the district’s open call center. The number to call is 904-336-0001.
RELATED: Clay County school bus driver who planned to retire dies after contracting COVID-19
Masks are not be required on school buses this year, but they are recommended. Buses will not only be cleaned but specially sprayed after each morning and afternoon route.