BACK TO SCHOOL — A driver in every bus

But what about the classrooms?

  • A school bus turns into Osceola School for the Arts Monday morning. All buses and routes had corresponding drivers, the School District's transportation department reported. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
    A school bus turns into Osceola School for the Arts Monday morning. All buses and routes had corresponding drivers, the School District's transportation department reported. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
  • The doors swung open Monday at Knights Point K-8 on Poinciana Boulevard for the very first time. PHOTO/STEVEN WELLS
    The doors swung open Monday at Knights Point K-8 on Poinciana Boulevard for the very first time. PHOTO/STEVEN WELLS

    If a little traffic is as bad as things got on the first day of school Monday here in Osceola County, it was a solid Day One.

    It was a first day that School Board members gave rave reviews to and their board meeting Tuesday.

    Buses rolled from the county’s two depots shortly after 5:30 a.m., and each bus corresponding to a route, and vice versa, was accounted for with a driver, totaling about 250 of them, according to Randy Wheeler, the district’s director of bus transportation.

    After last year, which saw a number of open driver positions, requiring some buses and drivers to double-up on routes for a school level (elementary, middle, high), all were accounted for Monday.

    And, the buses were equipped with technology to scan student IDs as they boarded and left the bus, along with the app Here Comes The Bus to receive real-time alerts. Some buses are also equipped with cameras that can scan areas around and under the bus.

    Meanwhile, there is still a deficiency in classroom teachers, but like the bus driver crunch from a year ago, the district is in a better position now.

    School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff told Board members at its July 30 meeting, while the district still has unfilled teaching positions—records show there were 144 unfilled teaching positions, down from 188 a year ago—the Osceola district is in better shape than most other school districts its size or larger in employment.

    “Our HR team has worked really hard to fill the vacancies we have. We have a teacher shortage in this country. We are no different than anyone else,” he said. “Having spent time with superintendents from across the country, there are a lot of school districts across the country, smaller than us, that have significantly more vacancies. But we are continuing to staff all of our classrooms, and that doesn’t end until they’re all filled.”

    The district opened new K-8 schools in Sunbridge, east of St. Cloud (Voyager) and on Poinciana Boulevard just north of the Sunrail Station (Knights Point).