JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Even with the arrival of a new school bus contractor, many local students boarding buses on Monday for the first school day were greeted by familiar faces.

Student Transportation of America (STA), the school bus contractor selected earlier this year to provide busing for Duval County Public Schools in the Arlington/Beaches area, announced that 85 percent of the former drivers, monitors, and maintenance and administrative personnel have accepted offers to join the company.

“The response from former drivers and other local applicants was excellent,” said Chris Ingold, manager of STA’s Duval County terminals. “We conducted hundreds of interviews and were impressed by the level of professionalism, experience and commitment demonstrated by the driver candidates. Virtually every employee who served the school district last year was offered his or her job back, and we are extremely pleased that so many of them accepted.”

Ingold also noted that the interview process gave STA the opportunity to reassess the qualifications and credentials of all drivers.

While the school bus drivers will be familiar, the buses that will carry students in the Arlington/Beaches area are brand new. STA purchased a new fleet of 275 vehicles from Jacksonville-based Rivers Bus Sales.

Among the technologies equipped on the buses are video surveillance, Child Check-Mate systems and GPS. Furthermore, a pilot program will have 10 of the buses running on biofuel.

In similar news, STA announced earlier this month that more than 40 former employees of Williamsport (Pa.) Area School District — including drivers, monitors, aides and mechanics — have signed on with the contractor, which was selected in June to provide busing for the district.

“We’re very excited about starting the new school year as STA employees,” said Vivian Pena, a bus driver for the school district for nearly 20 years. “We have drivers to cover all of the routes, and most will cover the same routes they drove last year. The management team here is very experienced, and Terminal Manager Matt Wright has done just about all of these jobs at some point in his career, so he understands the challenges and rewards of being a driver, trainer and mechanic.”

STA completed the $1 million purchase of the Williamsport school bus fleet last month and expects delivery of a dozen new school vehicles, valued at another $1 million, soon after the start of school. The company also will install a new computerized routing and planning system, and each bus will be equipped with a digital video system that monitors activities inside and outside the vehicle.