Richmond County parents speaking out about school bus issues

RICHMOND COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) – Some Richmond County parents are speaking out about school buses being late.

Parents we spoke to said these issues have been going on for a while, with buses sometimes being hours late picking up their children or hours late dropping them off.

“It’s hit or miss whether the bus is gonna come on time,” said parent Sheffie Robinson.

Robinson’s son is an elementary school bus rider. On Monday, he was supposed to be picked up by the bus at 7 a.m. The bus tracking app said the bus wouldn’t be there until 9:39 am. School starts at 8:20 a.m.

“So I just ended up leaving work and taking him myself because I know the importance of getting to school on time,” she said. “And as I’m leaving, droves of parents are pulling up with their kids and we talking like, school started an hour before.”

Kaylan Breitinger also has an elementary school bus rider.

She says due to miscommunication on behalf of the school system, her child has already missed up to 10 days of school because no bus came to get her.

“When she misses school she hates it, she mopes around and says ‘I wanted to go to school.’ She missed one day where they did cupcakes for a kid’s birthday she was so excited for, and I had no way to get her there,” Breitinger said.

Parents have taken to social media to share their experiences – citing issues with the bus tracking app, a lack of communication between the bus drivers and schools, and there being not enough bus drivers.

Robinson and Breitinger worry about their children’s safety and education.

Robinson thinks the solution to the problem is deeper than paying bus drivers more or having hiring fairs.

“The next generation workforce doesn’t care about money in the same way. They care about work-life balance, they care about time, they care about their ability to maintain their mental state,” she said. “So you can have as many hiring fairs, they can jack that thing up to thirty dollars an hour, they’re still going to have a revolving door.”

The next school board meeting is Tuesday, October 22nd. We reached out and provided questions to a spokesperson with the Richmond County School System, and are waiting to hear back.

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