These school bus drivers paid a touching tribute to their graduating seniors

A group of bus drivers didn't let an early end to the school year keep them from honoring their graduating seniors amid COVID-19.

With Loveland City Schools in Ohio closed for the year, its transportation department came up with a unique way to say goodbye to its students -- some of whom they'd driven to and from school since kindergarten.

"We're the first face they see in the morning and the last one they see before they head home," Lisa Moorhead, a driver of 23 years and the district's courier, told "Good Morning America."

"We share hugs, they tell us stories and make us laugh," she added. "We share a lot with these kids -- probably more than people realize."

Moorhead said many of the drivers transported a generation of children whose parents once rode the same yellow buses.

Since they can't say goodbye in person, Loveland Transportation's drivers lined up 22 buses in the shape of "2020" to salute this year's 392 graduates.

Jim Barrett, an art and photography teacher at Loveland High School, recorded aerial drone footage of the tribute.

The video, viewed by 4,000, was posted to the district's Facebook page for students and their families to view.