Clayton County Schools on Thursday warned parents of middle school and high school students to expect after-school bus delays for the first two weeks of the new academic year.
In an effort to make sure that elementary school students are on the proper bus at the end of the school day, the south metro Atlanta district is delaying departure times when buses will leave schools with the area’s youngest children.
That extra time spent with elementary schoolers means buses for middle and high schools will depart later at the end of the school day.
“Parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to exercise patience during this two-week period,” Denise Hall, executive director of the school system’s transportation department, said in a release.
Clayton students returned to class for the 2023-2024 school year on Wednesday, one of several metro Atlanta districts opening school this week.
The warning comes as Clayton, like many metro area school systems, struggles with a bus driver shortage. The district said that some drivers are responsible for two routes and that administrators with commercial driver’s licenses have been tapped to help out by driving buses.
The district said that parents should download the Edulog Parent Portal app to obtain route updates and other transportation information. To register, parents should go to clayton.k12.ga.us/departments/transportation/edulog_parent_portal.
Despite the driver shortage, Clayton said the school system transported an estimated 28,000 students to classes on the first day of class.
“This is the best school opening we’ve had in years,” Hall said. “The 6:45 a.m. drop-off at our elementary school locations has substantially improved our ability to pick students up and deliver them to school on time.”
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