IT’S BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE SATURDAY. STUDENTS IN THE WINSTON-SALEM FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT HEAD BACK TO CLASS IN LESS THAN ONE ONE WEEK. BUT THE DISTRICT STILL NEEDS NEARLY 60 BUS DRIVERS. OUR CHRIS PETERSEN SPOKE WITH LEADERS ON HOW THEY ARE NOW HANDLING THE SHORTAGE AND ALSO EXPLAINS WHY JUST GETTING MORE APPLICATIONS IS NOT IMMEDIATELY SOLVING THE ISSUE. TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS SAY CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO BUS ROUTES AFTER MONDAY’S PRACTICE RUNS, BUT CHILDREN WILL STILL BE LATE TO AND FROM SCHOOL ON THE FIRST DAY AND POSSIBLE LONGER. WE ARE STILL GOING TO HAVE SPEED BUMPS IN THE ROAD. TISHA DAVIDSON, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION FOR WINSTON-SALEM FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOOLS, SAYS THE DISTRICT IS STILL IN NEED OF 59 BUS DRIVERS FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR. DAVIDSON DID SAY THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED 27 NEW APPLICANTS, BUT NONE OF THEM HAVE AN ACTIVE COMMERCIAL DRIVER’S LICENSE WITH THE PROPER QUALIFICATIONS THAT MEANS WEEKS OF CLASSROOM AND ROAD TESTING BEFORE THEY CAN HIT THE STREETS. THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS OFFERING A $1,000 SIGNING BONUS FOR NEW BUS DRIVERS AND ANOTHER $1,000 AFTER JANUARY 25TH. THERE ARE ALSO 11 OPEN POSITIONS FOR MECHANICS. ENNICE DAVIDSON SAYS THEY ARE ENCOURAGING PARENTS TO CONTACT THEIR STUDENT’S SCHOOL IF THEY DON’T NEED TO RIDE THE BUS IN THE MEANTIME, ROUTES HAVE BEEN CONSOLIDATED TO ACCOUNT FOR THE DRIVER SHORTAGE. WHEN WE REDUCED THE NUMBER OF OPEN BUSSES, IT ACTUALLY MADE THOSE ROUTES. THOSE RUNS LONGER. SO IT’S IT’S THE DOUBLE EDGED SWORD WHERE YOU’RE GOING, GOING BACK AND FORTH WHERE WE WANT TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, TRANSPORT THE STUDENTS TO SCHOOL AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, BUT AT THE SAME POINT IN TIME, MAKING SURE THAT WE’RE HITTING EVERYBODY EFFICIENTLY. DAVIDSON ALSO SAID THAT DURING MONDAY’S PRACTICE RUNS, BUS DRIVERS NOTICED FAR TOO MANY CARS PASSING BUSSES WITH THEIR STOP ARMS OUT. SHE’S ENCOURAGING DRIVERS TO PAY ATTENTION AND BE SAFE.