VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Well before the first school bell rings in Virginia Beach, hundreds of school buses are on the roads of the Resort City.
Bus drivers, mechanics, and administrators have been preparing for this day for weeks. 700-plus school buses cross-cross neighborhoods in Virginia Beach on any given school day. But like so many other school districts across Hampton Roads, there are not enough drivers to fill those buses.
"We're doing better than last year," reports James Lash, Executive Director of Transportation for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
At the start of the school year in 2021, the school system was short approximately 130 drivers. As of the end of August 2022, the system needed to hire approximately 70 drivers to be fully staffed.
"We will experience some delays at the beginning of the school year, but we anticipate having all the drivers seats filled, hopefully, in the December time frame," Lash adds.
Parents can sign up to track bus routes at this link from the Virginia Beach City Public Schools parent portal.
