HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Henry County is one of several metro Atlanta counties dealing with a school bus driver shortage, and parents say it’s taking a toll on their kids.
“It’s been freezing this last week. Not above 32 degrees, and she has to sit there for 40 minutes and wait, and I don’t think that’s very appropriate,” parent Jodi Register told Channel 2′s Matt Johnson about her daughter. “She’s come home a couple days in tears.”
Parents say they’ve been waiting for the district to hire more drivers for months, if not longer.
In November, bus drivers themselves addressed the board of education.
“We are severely understaffed. We are running doubles and triples, and I have run 10 routes in one day,” bus driver Novia Cantero-Hernandez said.
Some drivers are concerned about the safety of the kids on the bus.
“We need help. We're not here to complain. We just need help,” Tara Hammett said.
They also raised concerns about being underpaid.
"I love these kids so much, I sacrifice to make this happen,” bus driver Richard Taylor said.
A spokesperson said: “Where our shortage exists is with our substitute bus drivers. We have experienced some unusually high numbers of regular drivers being out sick or on long-term leave over the past few months.”
He went on to say, "Discussions and development of future plans and funding are also being utilized to include possible solutions that would mitigate current issues in subsequent school years."
Register said parents and drivers are tired of waiting.
“Something definitely has to be done and I don’t think we should have to wait a year or two to see that change,” Register said.
The district wants to point out this is not a problem just isolated to Henry County.
A job posting for a substitute driver Johnson found lists the pay at just over $11 an hour.
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