CAPE CORAL, Fla. — As the School District of Lee County continues to struggle with a shortage of bus drivers, some parents say their kids were stuck waiting for hours on the bus.
Two days into the school year, the district says about 1,000 kids were late to school each day.
But it was the drive home that has Cape Coral mother Jennipher Everd furious.
“My kids didn’t get home until 6:00 p.m.,” Everd said.
“My daughter was sitting on the bus from 2:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. She had an accident on herself - not good.”
Everd, whose kids attend Trafalgar Elementary School, told Fox 4 Investigates she was so traumatized by the experience she drove her kids to school on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the district says the bus left the elementary school at 4:05 p.m. and returned at 5:30 p.m. to pick up more students.
The final stop for the bus was at 6:33 p.m.
“The school had incomplete information about which students should be on which bus, causing the delay,” said District Spokesman Rob Spicker.
“That information was updated and corrected this morning.”
Thursday, the district reported seven drivers called out sick for the day, two more than the previous day.
However, last year the district averaged between 35-40 bus driver absences each day.
Currently, the district still needs another 69 bus drivers to operate at maximum efficiency.
Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier told Fox 4 on Wednesday the district has several bus drives in the hiring pipeline who are still going through the H.R. process.
