Lexington County area children ride at least 169 hot school buses twice daily.

In District 1 in Gilbert, Lexington and Pelion, 83 of 184 state-owned school buses lack air conditioning, Mary Beth Hill reported.

In Batesburg-Leesville, 10 of District 3’s 21 state-owned school buses have no air conditioning, Mackenzie Taylor reported.

District 4 in Gaston and Swansea has 24 state-owned buses without air, Lisa Ingram reported.

In Chapin and Irmo, District 5 has 102 state-owned buses, 52 without air, Katrina Goggins reported.

District 2 in the Cayce-Wet Columbia area has not yet responded to the Chronicle.

SC Department of Education data shows that 35% of buses across the state lack air conditioning.

Parents and drivers say they are upset by the lack of air conditioning in the heat.

One District 1 driver told WLTX-TV that his bus doesn’t even have a fan.

Department of Education officials say they are working to lower those numbers yet nearly 2,000 buses still lack air conditioning.