A shortage of school bus drivers has upset parents in Wilson County.
The County's school district is often the reason that parents decide to move to the area, but for the past few months, they've been anything but happy.
The district has been tackling the issue since the beginning of year.
"It's just very hard to get bus drivers, and we've been about 20 drivers short probably for the last two months, and things have only gotten worse recently," said Wilson County School Spokesperson Jennifer Johnson.
"We've had people out because of sickness. We've had one driver we had to let go. We have another driver we're losing on the 28th; so really things are getting worse instead of better," Johnson added.
Bus routes have been rearranged to try and temporarily fix the problem, but that means some routes are late, arrive early or are completely canceled.
"We understand it's frustrating for parents. Its frustrating for us when we have to cancel those routes but if we don't have enough people to drive the buses that's really our only alternative," Johnson said. “Bus transportation is not something that we are mandated to do. It is a privilege and we’re doing the best we can and we just hope parents will be patient as we work through this.”
In a meeting with existing drivers last week, school officials learned the part time split shift is a big issue. They said they're looking at other possibilities like making some positions full time.
The district is also willing to train those who don't have a CDL license and are currently looking for new bus drivers.
