Hutto ISD community meets bus drivers ahead of first day of school

HUTTO, Texas - Hutto ISD is making sure their hippos are ready for the first day of school on August 10.

The school district invited the community over to the transportation facility Thursday afternoon to meet their bus drivers.

"We thought why not meet their bus driver, why not meet the transportation staff come see the buses, let parents see the improvements the school buses undergone since they rode the bus," said David Uecker, Hutto ISD transportation director.

"Basically, they're going to be first time bus riders," said Hutto ISD parent Terence Jackson. "Me and mom were nervous on getting them on the bus."

To ease those nerves, Hutto ISD will do practice runs on Monday and Wednesday with students who wish to participate.

"They'll get to meet the driver, they get to ride the bus," Uecker said. "We'll talk about rules, safety and how to load and unload the bus."

Many school districts in Central Texas are experiencing a bus driver shortage. Hutto ISD wants to reassure parents that's not the issue in the hippo capital.

"What we're short on is bus monitors, special ed assistants that help with the special needs children on their ride to and from school, and we need a couple of crossing guards," Uecker said.

"It's also important to me to be able to pay attention to the road and stay safe on the road while I have someone to assist the students while we're driving down the road," said Hutto ISD special education bus driver Lisa Golden.

The heat isn't going anywhere, and that brings concern to some parents.

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Hutto ISD says the A/C is working on all school buses, and if a bus breaks down, they'll bring in another one to take to your kid home.

"What we advise the students: have water, we allow water on the bus," Uecker said. "We will run our air conditioning if we need to, we will lower the windows, we'll go back to the old days of riding with the windows open."

Parents can log on to their Ride 360 account here to check their students bus route schedule.

If you don't see your child's schedule, you can email the transportation team at Transportation@huttoisd.net