School district issues statement on suspended bus drivers

KINGSTREE— Twenty bus drivers were suspended for failing to “transport students in a timely manner” Oct. 30, according to a statement released by the Williamsburg County School District on Monday night.

“Our students are our greatest concern,” interim superintendent Linda B. Huell said in the statement. “We are disappointed by the reaction of drivers who failed to transport students in a timely manner on Friday afternoon. The safety of our students was in jeopardy, and action had to be taken.

“We could not possibility risk allowing this situation to occur again,” Huell said. “We have suspended all drivers that participated in the failure to transport students in a timely manner while pending further review.”

With 20 drivers suspended, those remaining might have to “run double routes” to ensure students arrive at area schools as scheduled, according to the statement.

Kingstree Elementary School, D.P. Cooper Elementary School, W. M. Anderson Primary School, Kingstree Senior High School and Kingstree Junior High School were listed as expecting to experience delays.

Students attending affected schools could be delayed “up to one and one-half hour” both arriving to school and returning home, the statement said. A district spokesperson said those estimates were a “worst-case scenario” and students were reported as arriving at schools Tuesday morning without much delay.

On Oct. 30, it was reported 17 bus drivers didn’t run their assigned afternoon routes for three district schools, causing 185 students to arrive home later than usual. The spokesperson said the drivers eventually did pick up the children and that no child was left “stranded.”

While no drivers involved could be contacted, a high-ranking official within the district said the incident was in response to changes in the district’s overtime policy for its bus drivers.

The statement said recent budget cuts from the state prompted the district to take a closer look at its budget “so it could bring it in line.” It was then that the district’s chief financial officer discovered bus drivers had been overpaid “in excess of $1,000,000 over a three-year period,” the statement said.

The district passed a deficit budget earlier this year and is estimated to be $2 million in debt.

According to the statement, officials with the administration found discrepancies between hours drivers worked and those that were paid for. The statement said drivers were notified of the discrepancies.

“Since these findings were discovered, the district continues to work closely with drivers,” the statement said. “And communicate extensively with the state Department of Education Transportation Department to determine the actual hours per route.”

Neither the district’s statement nor its spokesperson gave a specific reason for drivers failing to make their assigned routes Oct. 30. The spokesperson said the district was working closely with the state Department of Education Transportation Department to resolve the transportation issue and have the bus schedule running normally as soon as possible.