M-DCPS Bus Fleet Holds Dry Run Ahead Of New School Year
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Monday morning means back-to-school for students all across South Florida and for many parents, the day means getting them ready for the year, and dropping them off at the bus stop.
For school officials, before the start of the school year are doing their own preparations to ensure the first day of class goes off without a hitch.
Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho did everything but kick the tired on school buses Thursday. Carvalho wanted to make that the buses and drivers are ready to transport roughly 60,000 kids Monday morning.
Carvalho didn't get to drive the school bus, but he did get to check them out during a dry run of school bus operations at the school district's Southwest Miami-Dade garage.
"Monday is the first day of school and we are slowly but methodically re-awakening a sleeping giant from its summer nap," said Carvalho. "Safety first so it's hard for me to pass up on an opportunity to catch up with bus drivers and bus aides."
The districts 1,250 buses will be running bright and early on Monday, carrying out students using 1,100 routes.
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With summer vacation near the end, Greg Allen, a veteran school bus driver, said he's excited about the new year.
"If you like your job, you miss the kids and you want to get back to the nitty gritty," said Allen.
This school year the school district has a new app that parents and students can download to provide fast access to bus route information to make the commute a smooth one.
"They are able to see the pickup and drop-off addresses as well as the drop off times, bus number and bus route information," said Thais Prado with Miami-Dade Public Schools.
With the new technology, the district hopes the back-to-school commute goes smoothly but no matter Thursday's dry run, the true test comes bright and early Monday morning.
Miami-Dade school officials say all 1,250 buses were maintained and cleaned over summer break. They even removed the seats to make sure the buses are as clean as possible.
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