Berkeley County Parents Report Persistent School Bus Delays Amid Driver Shortage
Parents in Berkeley County, South Carolina, are reporting ongoing school bus delays as nearly 40,000 students returned to schools last week. The Berkeley County School District has acknowledged that not all students are arriving at class on time, attributing the delays to a bus driver shortage and unexpected call-outs. The district began the academic year with 27 bus driver vacancies. Parents, who use a bus app for pickup time updates, are receiving delay notifications that are often inexact and do not specify the bus number, with some indicating arrival windows of 60 to 90 minutes. Isoraida Lorenzo Duncan, a mother of four, stated she has contacted the district eight times, and her middle schooler has not been able to ride the bus to school at all this year due to the delays. She highlighted the difficulty for parents with multiple children to drop them off themselves, especially when both parents work. The district has stated that drivers are in place for regular routes, but recent delays stem from last-... 
