School Bus Companies Taking All Precautions as School Year Begins

ST. CLOUD -- Just like in the classroom, students will be adjusting to several changes on the school bus this year.

State health officials are requiring bus drivers and students to wear a mask, limit seating to 50% capacity and installing regular cleaning protocols.

Bethany Schubert is the Vice President of Trobec's Bus Service. She says in addition to the state requirements, they've also purchased some electrostatic sprayers for all their school and charter buses.

Once a day the buses are gone through in between morning and afternoon routes and are sprayed down by our disinfecting teams to help kill any germs that are on the bus.

The cleaners use a specialized solution designed to disinfect hard-to-reach areas that manual cleaning can miss in a quick and more efficient manner.

While there is no perfect solution school bus companies are working hard to ensure the safety of students and drivers.

Troy Voigt is the Presidents of Voigt's Bus Company. He says school districts and bus companies have been preparing plans for months and feel families will adjust quickly.

Looking around the community mom and dad are getting them used to a mask. That's the name of the game, keep your hands clean and cover your face. I don't look at all these changes as much of a challenge for students.

Both Voigt and Schubert say while they are ready to go this fall, the pandemic hasn't help with the already existing bus driver shortage, and both companies are always looking to hire more drivers.

Students in St. Cloud, Sartell-St. Stephen and Sauk Rapids-Rice begin classes on Tuesday.