LEBANON, Tenn. – The second day of school in Wilson County had administrators busy addressing multiple issues.
The phones at the Wilson County Central Office were ringing off the hook. The biggest complaint from parents was transportation. Problems included buses showing up late to students whose ride home took hours. One mother said her child was on the bus for almost three hours.
District leaders spent Tuesday working out the kinks and are re-examining their plans.
This year new bus routes were added and transfer points eliminated. Another issue was the 750 new students in the district.
Parents are calling for the district to reverse the changes- while school leaders are asking for patience and more time.
“The biggest two things is the traffic from parents taking their kids to school and bus drivers getting more familiar with actually driving the route,” said Amelia Hipps with Wilson County Schools.
The district also said they are experiencing a school bus driver shortage.
“We could hire 15 right now. A lot have retired somel have gone on to better paying positions,” said Hipps.
Districts cannot have students riding the bus for more than 90 minutes.
In Wilson County, students who have the longest commute are often live in rural areas.
