ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- For many kids, hopping on the big yellow school bus is what they look forward to come August.

But for some Albemarle County Public School students, that won't happen this year, and their parents are scrambling to find them a ride.

"The county has to do better," Brandi Allen said.  

Allen’s two daughters go Scottsville Elementary. She said her third grader cried Monday night when, two weeks before the first day of school, they found out their bus route was canceled.

Allen already drives her son to a non-county school.

"The best solution they gave was carpool," she said.

It's one of 10 routes throughout the school division that are open because of the ongoing bus driver shortage. Helen Dunn with ACPS said the division is doing the best it can with what it has.

"We have about 10 percent of families that are still facing this shortage. Now that constitutes a lot of people and we are very aware of that major inconvenience it causes families," she said.

Each school is at least 50 percent covered when it comes to bus routes.

Dunn said the division is asking people to give up their spot if they don't end up needing it, and kicking people off their route when they don't ride for 10 days.

Jennifer and Paul McArtor, whose child's bus to Walton Middle School was canceled, said ACPS didn't prioritize the right routes.

"From our area, it's primarily the middle school students that aren't being bused but the high schoolers who could walk easily walk to school ride with friends, et cetera, are still being you know, bused from within a mile a mile and a half of the school," Jennifer said.

They said if they had known about this in June, things could've been different.

"The solution has been outsourced to the parents to figure out," Paul said.

Allen said ACPS should use the funding they would use to pay those missing drivers to help families with gas. The McArtors said schools should open early and close late for working parents.

ACPS is still recruiting bus drivers. Pay is now almost $23 an hour. The McArtors said they should add new incentives.

Bus driver applications are on the ACPS website.