A Marion County school bus driver who says she regularly transports more students than the maximum capacity of her vehicle, which has no working radio and air conditioner, demanded meaningful solutions from the school board to improve safety and prevent overcrowding in light of being told to drive another vehicle “until it broke.”
Elizabeth M. Wiley presented her concerns to the Marion County School Board during its regular meeting on Tuesday, December 10.
Wiley, who had to take time off work to attend the meeting, opened her comments by stating that she found it “disheartening” that she had to take time off simply to “have the opportunity to address the school board.”
“Employees should not feel restricted from sharing their perspectives simply due to scheduling conflicts arising from our professional duties,” said Wiley.
The school bus driver then shifted focus to her main concern: Overcrowding and unsafe conditions.
According to Wiley, when the school year began in August, overcrowding became an “immediate and pressing issue” on her bus.
“And despite repeatedly seeking assistance, my concerns were not taken seriously, until I finally sent an email detailing the exact number of students registered to my route and then reminded them of the school bus manufacturer’s capacity limit. And only then, was the situation addressed,” said Wiley in disbelief.
During the meeting, Wiley said that her bus, which is number #0001 of the district’s fleet, has a maximum capacity of 65 passengers. She says that at the time of her complaint, she was transporting “80 elementary students and 74 middle school students.”
“Despite repeated calls for action, nothing was done to address the safety conditions that I repeatedly reported,” said Wiley. As the issue persisted, Wiley said she became deeply concerned for the safety of the students and wellbeing of drivers.
To resolve overcrowding, a stop drop was implemented on Wiley’s route. Despite the solution, Wiley says the bus was still “inadequate” because students were “too big” to sit “three to a seat.”
As she continued, she shifted focus once more to her bus’s mechanical issues, saying her vehicle began to experience transmission issues amidst the ongoing overcrowding problems.
Wiley says that when she brought up the vehicle’s issues with maintenance, that she was told by a department head to “drive it until it broke.”
“And it nearly did, over railroad tracks, and I’m not talking about broken railroad tracks. These are active railroad tracks,” said Wiley. She says she experienced a panic attack during the incident and that the thought of returning to the tracks with 20 students made her nervous.
Wiley says she was then reassigned to another bus that, in her opinion, “was not equipped for human transport.” She said the seats could not “securely attach to the bus frame,” that the bus was without seatbelts, and that the emergency door needed “extreme force” just to open.
Wiley went on to say that she has “almost passed out twice” due to the extreme heat in the bus.
“This isn’t minor heat discomfort. The temperatures on that bus reached up to 113 degrees, creating a highly dangerous situation for both myself and my students,” said Wiley.
Wiley ended her remarks by saying she found it “impossible” to ensure that her student passengers were safe given the conditions under which she was operating.
“It is essential to hold those responsible accountable for those systematic failures, and to implement meaningful solutions to prevent further issues,” said Wiley to close her remarks.
Despite the passionate plea to the board, Wiley’s comments were met with a sole remark by Superintendent Dr. Diane Gullett that employees are never “told that they cannot come speak to the board,” harkening back to the opening seconds of Wiley’s four and a half minute speech.
Earlier this year, the school board approved the purchase of a dozen new buses.
Weeks after approving that purchase and confirming that transportation delays had been a result of the last-minute decision to manage alternative learning services in-county, the board agreed to spend $1.74 million to contract supplemental school bus transportation services for Marion County Technical Institute students.
During Tuesday’s meeting, school board members also voted to approve the purchase of lifts to service the new buses. That matter was approved as part of the board’s consent agenda.
The Marion County School Board regularly meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at 1614 E Fort King Street.