FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Southwest Allen County Schools has been back in the classroom for about a month, and bus routes have been running smoother compared to the first two weeks, according to the district. WANE 15 caught up with SACS’s director of Transportation on Tuesday.

“It is getting better, we currently have eight open routes,” said Mike Martin. “We were at eleven and we are at eight, unfortunately, it is a long process.”

Martin is down one current driver due to medical leave and is not expected to be back for another month.

Four weeks ago, the district experienced major delays up to an hour late. This issue revolved around a bus driver shortage. Since that time, SACS will be able to send two new drivers out on the roads after they have been training for several weeks.

“We had one go up this week and we have another one going up Friday,” Martin said.

SACS officials have met many times during after-school hours to discuss where they were losing time on the bus routes.

“We tried to make them more efficient than what they were and maybe combine a couple of routes,” Martin explained.

The district still has seven drivers in the hiring process and they would like to have five to six more. To become a bus driver for SACS, a link to the application can be found here, or call 260-431-2050.