HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — The nationwide school bus driver shortage is causing a major issue in Hernando County, causing kids to sit on the floor and parents are saying enough is enough. 

Joshua and Tara Green told Spectrum Bay News 9's Katya Guillaume that they were concerned about the situation.

“We want to have somebody that can actually make something happen,” parent Joshua Green said.

He and his wife Tara Green said the situation is heartbreaking. 

“We have four in high school that are the ones that are crowded on the buses," Tara Green said. "It’s not disturbing but it’s unimaginable.”

The situation has become dire for the Greens' children, to the point that they would rather forgo the bus altogether.

“Our kids don’t want to ride the bus anymore," Tara Green said. "They would rather not participate in school at all than to get on those crowded buses.”

A group of parents and residents joined the Greens to speak up about the issue.

Images from the overcrowded buses — which were shared with Bay News 9 — have parents questioning what the school district is doing with their funding.

Diane Liptak was part of the crowd that gathered Thursday morning to share her frustration.

“Is part of the problem that money is not being allocated to purchasing enough school buses to handle the population growth for the kids?” she asked.

District officials say the problem is drivers, not busses: The district is 40 drivers short, and it's an issue they’ve faced since the beginning of the school year.

Wendy Porter and Sarah Robitaille said they are both passionate about the issue. 

“Find out why the reason we don't have drivers. We had them a year or two ago, what happened?" Porter said. "Are they not being paid, is it the vaccine mandate and they are not going?”

Experts say school districts across the country have dealt with bus driver shortages for years — shortages that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The average age of a bus driver  before the pandemic was between 52-56 — an age group that is becoming only more susceptible to the virus, and made up of people who might be unwilling to return to a frontline profession that, as of 2020, has an average national pay of only $34,670.

Bay News 9 reached out to the Hernando County School Board for an interview and they released a statement saying in part:

“We do not load our buses beyond seating capacity … with a driver shortage of almost 40 drivers, we cannot accommodate reduced ridership at this time. When a bus driver sees a student sitting in the aisle, they do talk to that student and try to correct the behavior."

You can find the full statement below

First, we do not load our buses beyond seating capacity. Typically, we
build middle and high school routes with only 2 students assigned per seat
for a more comfortable ride for older students. However, with a driver
shortage of almost 40 drivers, we cannot accommodate reduced ridership at
this time. That means some routes have the standard 3 students assigned to
each seat. 

Currently, most routes are operating at full capacity. However, we do not
load buses so full that students don't have a seat. It might be snug, but
they do have a seat. 

When bus drivers see students sitting in the aisle, they talk with the
student and try to correct the behavior. 

- Hernando County Schools

The district currently does not have any signing bonuses for bus driver applicants, but it does offer bonuses for new applicant referrals in hope that it will drive in new hires.