Wilson County parents frustrated after ‘constant’ school bus cancelations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Brian McDonald says he and his three boys love going to Wilson County School System, but getting them there has been a challenge. Since fall break, he says the bus has only come once.

“The night before I’ll get a phone call and an email saying, with no more information other than the bus is not running. Figure it out yourself,” McDonald said.

And he does figure it out - scrambling to get friends or family to help.

”I get nervous every day at 5:30 waiting on that phone call,” McDonald said.

It’s the same situation for Erica Case on a different route. She says the bus doesn’t get her daughter at least three times a week.

“If I didn’t drive her, my daughter would be missing multiple days of school every single week, which I can’t imagine she would be able to pass doing that,” Case said.

They’ve lived in the county for years and never had a problem with the bus, but they moved homes and the new route is unreliable.

“We just moved here. We don’t really know people so she would be stranded at school. I guess I’d have to pay for an Uber or something to get her home, which I don’t really want her in the car with a stranger, but I don’t know what my other option would be, honestly,” Case said.

Wilson County Schools says the issue is they simply don’t have enough substitute drivers. When one calls out sick or takes vacation there’s no one to replace them. They are actively trying to get more people to apply.

“If we had an extra five to ten drivers come aboard with us, it would make all the difference in the world,” Wilson County School’s Bart Barker said.

They’ve increased pay, and added benefits, and are trying their best to get the word out. It’s a problem not confined to just Wilson County, it’s been an ongoing issue around the country. This year Barker actually says is an improvement from three or four years ago.

“It stretches beyond and well beyond. It has been an issue for the past several years, it’ll probably continue to be an issue as we move forward,” Barker said.

In the meantime, it’s all hands on deck with drivers running double routes and office staff driving buses themselves to try and avoid canceled routes.

“At this point? it’s kind of like, well, here it is, here’s the phone call. And the kids kind of laugh about it. “Dad, we don’t have a bus,” McDonald said.

The school is asking parents to have a backup plan and encourages anyone who might be interested to apply.

“If your route has been down, let’s say for a period of time, spread that word in your immediate community. Say, ‘Is anyone willing to take on a bus route? To go train and pick this up for a while? It would be a great help to a lot of our kids,’” Barker said.