JMCSS: 2 bus routes delayed, parents say several stops missed
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JACKSON, Tenn.,–Several parents said the Jackson-Madison County school system let them down, Thursday. With multiple claims bus drivers never picked up their children. WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News turned to the district for answers. School officials declined an on camera interview, but confirm two buses were late for routes Thursday morning. “Due to bus driver absences,” the district said in a news release. Angelina, who asked we only identify her by her first name said her 7th grader catches the bus at the corner of Ashport Road and Sage Cove every morning at 6:27 a.m. “I have my son out about 6:15 to 6:16 within the teen range so he’s there on time and not missing the bus,” she said. After waiting for nearly an hour Thursday, Angelina said she started calling the district’s transportation building. She said the message gave her four other numbers to try calling,”when I finally got through to someone at the school, they said the bus was running late.” By 8:30, Angelina said she realized her son did not miss the school bus, the school bus missed him. Since they are a one car family, she said the school bus skipping their stop caused the 7th grader to miss an entire day of school. Angelina said it is not fair for children to be punished for missing school when the problems lie on the school system,”there should be something happening on that end that doesn’t affect our children,” she said. Some parents said they have not had issues with their buses, but they would like a notification system in place for delayed drivers. “Like when they send those messages from the school board. I know it’s not the same thing but if it was something like that it would help,” Markeitha Rigney,a parent to two bus riders. According to documents on the JMCSS website, phone calls are not made to parents when buses run late because it’s “simply a numbers problem.” The school district said “actions were taken to fulfill those routes,” in a news release. The district did not say if Angelina’s son’s route was one of them. “We rely on everything to make sure our children are prepared, present and ready,” Angelina said,”so to be let down by the school system it’s kind of not good,” she said. One school board member said the district’s nearly 110 bus fleet is properly staffed and substitute drivers are in place.
