HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It's been a bumpy start to the new school year for Connie Laster and her five-year-old grandson.
"It doesn't matter how early in the year it is. These things should not be taking place," Laster said.
It's only the fourth day of school, and Laster said the school bus has not picked up her grandson for three days in a row.
"It's hard, especially when I'm depending on them to get him to and from, and I'm trusting that they're going to pick him up, and every morning, I've run into the fact that he hasn't been picked up," she said.
Her grandson attends Pizzo K-8 in Tampa. Laster said the bus was also late picking him up from school to bring him home, but she wasn't notified until later in the day. Even more frustrating for Laster is that she works in another county, so it's difficult to pick him up from school.
"There's an alert that is supposed to be sent out to the parents of a late bus or a bus not coming, and I got neither one until an hour after the fact that the bus was late," Laster said.
ABC Action News reached out to Hillsborough County Public Schools and was told the district does not keep track of buses that do not show up.
A spokesperson for the school district said parents were informed that due to the bus driver shortage, they should expect delays in their children arriving at school on time.
Currently, there are more than 200 driver vacancies in the district.
"That goes into their learning. They're late for school. The teacher has already started, so now my kid has to play catch up," Laster said.
