Student Transportation of America laying off 225 employees in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — School bus company Student Transportation of America announced it is laying off 225 of its employees in Jacksonville starting at the end of May.

About 160 bus drivers will be let go, as well as about 50 bus monitors.

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This comes after Duval County Public Schools canceled two of its contracts with STA. Durham School Services will take over those routes.

Action News Jax’s Emily Turner has been investigating service problems with STA for more than a year in her “A Troubled Ride to School” series.

This includes late pickups and drop-offs, overcrowded buses, and unsafe conditions.

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Our investigation included whistle-blowers who told us student safety is an issue.

STA did not answer any of our questions, but sent Action News Jax the following statement on the WARN notice:

“Student Transportation of America (STA) has moved forward with the procedural WARN filing process, which is required to assist Duval County Public Schools in transitioning 220 routes previously contracted to STA to another transportation provider for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. STA will continue to service more than 440 student routes next year.

“This filing does not impact current student routes for 2023-2024 and all of STA’s routes will remain active throughout the remainder of the school year.

“Impacted employees are given the opportunity to transfer to another local STA location next year, and we anticipate significant retention as we shift operational staffing and drivers to our other Duval terminals. We remain fully committed to supporting the transportation needs of local families.”

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Turner will explain the impact of the layoffs on district students coming up on CBS47 and FOX30 Action News Jax at 6.

See the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Notice that was sent by STA to the State of Florida below:

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