TOWSON, Md. — Monday is the first day of school for several Maryland public school systems but the ongoing school bus driver shortage could make it challenging for many students to get to class.
Baltimore County Public School officials say they're still a few bus drivers short of what they need.
Dozens have been hired recently but they're not ready to hit the road just yet and school officials expect certain school bus routes may operate later than usual.
Baltimore County Public Schools set out to hire 90 bus drivers this summer.
So far, they've hired 42 new bus drivers and 14 bus attendants but 39 additional bus drivers still need to complete their pre-employment processes.
It means they won't be ready to hit the road on Monday.
Parents and students should expect delays in that certain routes may operate later than normally scheduled.
Officials say that each school day, bus drivers with the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Transportation transport more than 77,000 students, twice a day on about 785 bus routes.
Officials also say the transportation office is taking a few steps to improve service including reviewing and resetting routing procedures and practices and launching an app to provide communication and real-time data on the location of school buses.
Another thing administrators are trying out this year is a pilot program to see who actually takes the bus. The program is designed to confirm ridership to certain northeast area schools to increase route efficiency and improve service to families.
