The Prince George’s County Board of Education discussed teacher and bus driver shortages as well as adjustments to the school system’s transportation operations on Thursday.

PGCPS CEO Millard House II said during the meeting that more than 80 percent of teaching positions and 74 percent of bus driver positions are filled.

According to Charoscar Coleman, PGCPS’ chief operating officer, the school system had 201 vacant bus driver positions as of Aug. 5.

The school system hired 55 bus drivers between August 2023 to August 2024, according to Kristi Murphy Baldwin, PGCPS’ chief human resources officer. But due to departures, the number of available bus drivers has decreased from 867 last August to 861 this month.

At the start of last academic year, the school system was understaffed by more than 200 bus drivers, The Diamondback previously reported. Some Prince George’s County bus drivers have advocated for county support and safer conditions.

The PGCPS transportation system has one of the highest student riderships in the nation with more than 80,000 participating students, according to Coleman. The system is grappling with a national bus driver shortage, he added.

“Despite these challenges, our team is making progress towards building a better transportation system,” Coleman said.

[‘We are sitting ducks’: PGCPS bus drivers say they feel unsafe]

The county has improved customer service with transportation, Coleman said. He mentioned the Stop Finder app, which allows families to track bus locations in real time.

Student member of the board Jamal Jongo said he has received multiple emails claiming the app did not work, specifically for afternoon routes. He also asked at the meeting if the app could be made more accessible to students.

“I really want to make sure our students are really getting access to the app too because of the fact that we’re a little more tech savvy than our parents,” Jongo said.

Students can gain access to the app once their parents sign up, explained Keba Baldwin, PGCPS’ transportation and central garage director.

[PGCPS’ bus driver shortage leaves some students stranded at bus stops]

Isaiah Smith, a second grader at Maya Angelou French Immersion School, described how late buses lead to him being unable to receive a hot breakfast at school.

“I want to get there early so I can eat the breakfast that they cooked,” Isaiah said in a tablet recording played at the meeting. “My teacher doesnt let me eat in her class. I end up being hungry all day.”

Coleman noted that the county also has redistributed staff at bus lots to ensure a bus can be substituted if it runs more than 15 minutes late. The county has received positive feedback on the improvements from parents and school leaders about punctual student pick up and drop off, he said.

Coleman said the system is making progress, though it is not perfect.

“Every child matters to us and while we are seeing these signs of progress, our work is not done until every family has satisfactory bus service,” he said.