CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Nearly 19,000 Lee County students were arriving home late from school every day last year. Now, the district said that number has dropped to about 9,000 students with the help of new start and dismissal times, though officials said more improvements are needed.
FOX 4's Bella Line spoke with the school district about what they are doing to get the numbers down:
The start of a new school year brings adjustments, and this year the Lee County School District said they are off to a good start when it comes to school bus pick-up and drop-off times.
"This year, the first month 30 days, we improved our on time by 20% and then also our pickup times by 19% so it's a very, very good start," said David Newlan with Lee County School's Safety, Security, Emergency Management and Fleet Transportation.
The Lee County School District found that last year 8,000 students were late getting to school every day and nearly 19,000 were late getting home. Now those numbers have gone down by more than half.
But Jarriad McKinney with the school district's transportation department said there are still challenges they are working through.
"There's construction everywhere in Cape Coral, and we are consistently — our drivers come in all the time let us know, hey, this road is closed," McKinney said.
McKinney said they are constantly looking at bus routes and working to get students to and from school safely.
One parent said she's noticed a difference this year.
"Last year, it was really bad," Sara Lynn Rose, a mom of a bus rider, said. "They did not have enough people to cover. This year, they do have a little bit better..there has been a few tardies because of the bus has been late, but usually I just call them up and let them know, and they excuse the tardy."
McKinney said the school district has also added new substitute bus positions.
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