As school bus rides grow longer in Hillsborough, entrepreneur offers private door-to-door service

BRANDON — Work starts at 6 a.m., but your first-grader's school starts at 8:05. He'll have to stand at a crowded bus stop with kids twice his size, while you're at the office, wondering if he's still alive.

It's enough to make a mom reach for her wallet.

That's what Karina DaSilva and a growing number of parents in eastern Hillsborough County are doing this fall. Dissatisfied or excluded from regular school bus service, they've signed on with a new, private bus service to ferry their kids to class. It costs $35 a week, and they say it's worth every penny.

"I didn't know what I was going to do with Leo and his bus situation," said DaSilva, who juggles her own nursing schedule and her husband's military deployment to South Korea. "Then a friend of a friend told me about Kids Door to Door, and I was so thankful. You can't put a price on your child's safety."

Entrepreneur Ozzie Saez said he targeted families living within 2 miles of school, most of whom don't qualify for public school bus service under state guidelines. But several parents told him it wasn't convenience that prompted them to sign up. It was fear.

"My son got hit in the mouth at the bus stop on the first day," said parent Diedra Searles, describing her middle schooler's troubles with bullying. "Another time he was halfway home and he was punched on the back of the head."

Parent Christie Clay, who leaves for work before her 12-year-old son goes to school, said she struggled with unbearable delays.

"The bus was late so many times last year, I bought him a cell phone because I was always worried about him," she said. "After school he waited for a very long time under a tent unsupervised, and I had to leave work to take him home."

Officials with the Hillsborough County School District say they notify schools when they hear of problems at bus stops. Sometimes schedules and routes get rearranged, or police drop by if there are reports of bullying.

"That's why we're asking parents to go out to the bus stop with (children,)" said transportation director John Franklin. "And practice those good habits of staying 10 to 15 paces off the roadway."

But he acknowledged that tight budgets have forced the district to make its bus system as efficient as possible, which sometimes means more crowded buses or longer routes.

School officials in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties say they've never heard of a similar private bus venture.

So far, Saez is running a single bus with a handful of riders in Brandon and Valrico, with other riders due to start next week.

Saez, 37, got his start in the transporting business as a teenager, helping his parents run a bus service in Dade County. Later he started a successful company selling and rebuilding cars and motorcycles, and did a lot of traveling in support of a racing team.

He earned more than his share of speeding tickets on those trips, with eight citations between 2002 and 2007. Four were in speed zones of 40 miles per hour or less, and the others were on highways, including one ticket for driving 91 miles per hour.

But Saez said those were the result of speed traps during years when he drove 20,000 miles or more.

"None of my tickets were for reckless driving," he said. "Since I stopped traveling, I haven't gotten any tickets in a couple of years."

Now, Saez said, his entire focus is on giving families a safe and reliable way to get their children to school.

"My mother did it out of need while going through a rough economic patch in life, and I am now (doing) it for the exact opposite reasons," he said. "I have the time and money to do it while filling a need in Hillsborough County."

The sun had barely risen on a recent morning in Valrico as Saez arrived to pick up 6-year-old Leo DaSilva. His mom, Karina DaSilva, gripped his hand, suddenly uncertain.

His first days of school had been traumatic, she said, in large part because of long rides on a crowded, hot bus.

But there were soft seats, music and air conditioning waiting for him in the new, white van, and Saez called out a cheerful greeting. With a quick kiss, Leo was off to school, and DaSilva was happy.

She said she has no problem with Saez's driving record.

"I had many conversations with him, I did a background check, looked at his commercial license and insurance and took time to get to know him," DaSilva said. "My son is in good hands."

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3400.