IMO, the official emphasized "experienced" driver so as to allay anxieties that the bus company had to hurry up and hire a new driver for that route. I'm guessing that not all of the drivers drive every day- some perhaps just a few days a week, so juggling the schedule does not necessarily mean another route will be assigned an "inexperienced" driver. The bus company might put out an offer/ request for their current part time drivers to pick up another route, and some might be interested in picking up extra hours.
All students should be lucky enough to get a competent driver. Which is why it's so infuriating that a driver like Walker, with so many serious issues, was continued in his job. But as I said in an earlier post, driving a school bus is not a highly paid position, has awkward hours, requires extraordinary patience and judgement, and so there is not always a robust pool of highly qualified, mature, and responsible applicants capable and willing to do the job well.
Sometimes I think that if a candidate has a CDL and passes the drug and background check, that's about all they look for.
