TYPE: Video Story Package

RUTHERFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS SAY THEY AREN'T EXPERIENCING MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ISSUES RIGHT NOW, BUT THE DISTRICT CONTINUES TO DEAL WITH AN INTERMITTENT BUS DRIVER SHORTAGE THAT BECOMES MOST NOTICEABLE AT THE START OF EACH SCHOOL YEAR.
"She had mentioned to us a couple of times that her bus has been very full, and she's learning how to play the saxophone so she's got an instrument case and a big backpack with her…"
AS ENROLLMENT GROWS AND NEW NEIGHBORHOODS ARE BUILT, THE DISTRICT OFTEN STRUGGLES TO FULLY STAFF EVERY ROUTE BEFORE CLASSES BEGIN. THAT CAN LEAD TO TEMPORARY DELAYS, LONGER WAIT TIMES, AND BUSES RUNNING WITH FEWER BACKUP DRIVERS AVAILABLE.
"So there's a lot of frustration at the beginning of the year for some routes, this year we had a particular area in the Rockville community, where we needed two or three different buses there and we were able to get it resolved in a couple of weeks"
JAMES EVANS, CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR RCS, SAYS THAT WHEN A BUS ROUTE BECOMES CONGESTED, MORE BUSES ARE ADDED TO THE AFFECTED ROUTES AND A NOTIFICATION IS SENT TO AFFECTED FAMILIES.
"Every once in awhile her bus is a few minutes late in the morning, but generally it's on time"
" Anytime we have a bus driver or bus contractor shortage, we get other contractors to cover parts of routes and break them up to cover the routes… It's something we've looked at doing, is that if there's positions opening in like the cafeteria, that would be open in the middle of the day, and if they can, if they want to do that type of work, and it fits into their bus driver schedule it's definitely something we at when we make those hiring decisions."
IN MURFREESBORO… MARCUS ROSARIO… MIDDLE TENNESSEE NEWS