CEDAR HILL, Texas — Some school districts across North Texas are finding innovative ways to handle transportation challenges this new school year. Many school districts are dealing with the reality of bus driver shortages.
“I’ve been doing this over 20 years. And so, it comes natural,” said veteran school bus driver Reggie Payton. He arrived to Cedar Hill ISD’s transportation yard early to complete his pre-route inspection.
Payton knows Cedar Hill ISD students depend on him to get safely to and from school each day.
“You just try to build a relationship. Try to brighten their day. Try to get them started for that morning,” Payton said.
The start of this new school year has already been an interesting one for many bus drivers and school districts.
“We are currently experiencing a driver shortage,” said Jonquez Moore, Director of Transportation for Cedar Hill ISD.
The Southern Dallas County school district could use about 12 additional drivers. Moore said school bus drivers shortages are a trend across districts nationwide.
“There’s been days where we’ve had to consolidate some routes. We’ve had to consolidate some routes as a whole. We’ve had to have other drivers cover routes in addition to their routes,” Moore explained.
One thing helping Cedar Hill ISD, right now, is staggering start times for elementary, middle, and high schools to ensure timely arrival.
Additionally, the Transportation Department is taking proactive safety measured this school year. New cameras have been installed across the fleet of buses. This week, the department launched a Zonar Student Pass, ZPass, for its elementary riders.
“What that allows is for us to track our students in real time when they get on the bus, when they get off the bus,” Moore explained.
Cedar Hill ISD’s transportation team says being proactive and innovative is key. Workers want the public to know the school district could still use some dedicated bus drivers.
For more information on the Cedar Hill ISD Department of Transportation visit https://www.chisd.net/domain/280.