CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Wednesday was the first day back to school for Horry County students, however, many parents were calling the school district’s transportation office after their child’s school bus did not arrive on time.
Jim Wright, the Director for Horry County School Transportation, spent the majority of the afternoon answering the phone calls of concerned parents.
He says the bus schedules are typically hectic during the first day back to school because a lot of students don’t sign up to ride the bus before the first day.
“About 70 percent sign up for the bus; the other 30 percent are gonna ride the bus, but we don’t even know who they are yet, so that delays everything,” Wright said.
The school buses are double-routed, meaning they pick up students at the elementary schools before going to the middle and high schools. According to Wright, the drivers have to ensure the elementary students are on the correct bus before they can leave the school. On any normal day, this would take 10 to 15 minutes, however, on the first day back, it could take at least 30 to 45 minutes.
“We’re talking about little four and five-year-olds; we just want to make sure they are taken care of first,” Wright said.
According to the district, the long bus delays are well worth the wait, because if they don’t spend the extra time checking and discover that there is a passenger on the wrong bus, they have to take the children back to the elementary school, delaying the middle and high schools even more.
Wright says it will take a little bit of time to work out all of the kinks.
“It’s to ensure the safety of the kids getting on the correct bus at the elementary school, once they get those times worked out, it’ll get better- each day it’ll get a little bit better and by the end of next week, it’ll be a nonissue,” Wright said.
