DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — Everyone knows when the bell rings, students are supposed to be in class.
But several students in Douglas County are showing up late to first period – or missing it altogether – because they’re waiting for the school bus to pick them up.
It’s been a problem ever since school started a month ago and parents are fed up and say the students are falling behind.
The kids told 11Alive they wait anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour just for their bus to arrive.
"It's super late sometimes. I have an honors class first period and sometimes I miss important stuff, and it throws me behind," Shikeria Steele said.
Classes start at 8:35 a.m. for Douglas County High School and Steele said she often misses her first class because the bus is so late.
"It's hard for me to catch up for stuff that I miss and when I'm late, I have to ask my teacher and ask my classmates for the stuff that I missed," Steele said.
It is the same story for many students waiting for the bus in Douglas County. They wait around not knowing when their ride will show up. Another student told us he sometimes uses his backpack as a pillow because he has enough time to nap at the bus stop.
Parents, frustrated with the problem, say the school district is asleep at the wheel. The district told 11Alive it’s aware of the issue, but said only a small number of students are impacted.
They said the district has six vacant positions right now with 13 drivers out on leave. The district is doubling the bus routes to try and make up for the vacancies and updating a late bus website twice a day.
We checked the site on Friday and found 28 buses were running late, many of them by 35 minutes. The district said it’s actively trying to hire new bus drivers and its top priority is getting these kids to school safely.
Other metro Atlanta school districts told 11Alive they are also experiencing bus driver shortages; however, they said they are able to get the children to school on time.
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