WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A few weeks into the new school year, a Wilson County father said his son hasn't made it to school on time once due to ongoing bus delays.
Daniel Wood's morning routine is a well-oiled machine with three children attending three different schools in Wilson County — one in elementary, one in middle, and one at the high school.
While his high schooler and elementary student make it on time, that's not the case for his middle schooler, who attends West Wilson Middle School.
"He's dressed and ready to get on the bus at 8:00," said Daniel Wood, a father with children in Wilson County Schools.
However, Wood said the bus his sixth-grader, Abram, rides is delayed, making his son 20 to 30 minutes late to school every day.
While that first period is an open study time called Focus, Wood said it's time his son needs to get help with schoolwork.
"He has not been to school on time yet, but we have another neighbor whose son is also in middle school. He went to middle school last year, and he said maybe 90% of the time his son was late going to school," Wood said.
Wood reached out to NewsChannel 5, looking for answers about what the school system is doing to fix the problem.
At Wilson County Schools, officials said they are currently down about a dozen bus drivers — and staffing isn’t the only challenge affecting bus routes.
"We've had drivers face some sicknesses, we've had some unrelated ailments and injuries," said Bart Barker, Wilson County Schools' Public Information Officer.
Abram’s route requires him to ride two buses as part of a transfer, creating two opportunities for delays when staffing falls short.
Barker said hiring more drivers could reduce delays and transfer issues.
"If you add more drivers, it solves a lot of delay and downed route issues," Barker said.
Barker said staffing issues have affected Wilson County buses for a couple of years. The school system is trying to attract new drivers through strategies targeting recent retirees, grandparents of current students, and anyone interested in making an impact in their community.
"If you are interested, maybe you're on the fence, what would it take to bring you over, to come drive our students, and help our families? We're very interested," Barker said.
Barker said right now there are about 5 bus drivers in training, and once they can start working, some of these issues may be resolved.
Another change this year: Wilson County parents can use a new app to track when buses will arrive. Wood said he has had trouble getting it to work.
According to Wilson County Schools, they're working on a fix with the app's developer.
"This story was reported on-air by Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Coles verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
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