Tuesday is the last day that Dallas County Schools will exist.
Voters acted to hit the brakes on the 172-year-old bus agency last fall after NBC 5 Investigates reports uncovered internal safety and financial problems.
The agency served nine independent school districts here in North Texas, impacting transportation for thousands of students. Highland Park, Aledo, Irving, Carrolton-Farmers Branch, Lancaster, Richardson, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Dallas independent school districts all previously had contracts with DCS. The agency’s fallout left each district with a driver shortage.
This summer, districts have been brainstorming on how to fill in the gaps.
• Aledo ISD administrators are currently interviewing for its last two positions.
• Dallas ISD recently held a hiring event and interviewed 200 prospective drivers. The district is currently looking to still hire less than 100 drivers to meet its daily route requirements.
• Irving ISD, DeSoto ISD, and Cedar Hill ISD have all three obtained contracts with the national bus transportation service “First Student.” Irving ISD is still in need of 13 drivers.
• Lancaster ISD has hired 87 percent of its drivers, but still needs 15 more to meet their daily routes.
We reached out to Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD, Highland Park ISD, and Richardson ISD, but have not received a response.
