Gilmer County School children had a long day last Friday when bus transportation did not work out to anyone’s likening. Gilmer County Board of Education Chairwoman Kathy Jones told FYN, “No one was happy with what happened Friday”

This made for a late night Friday and a long weekend for school board members and Superintendent Bryan Dorsey trying to field phone calls from angry parents. Top brass at the district promised parents they would make the necessary corrections to get their children home safely.

Monday came, and it appears things went much better.
FYN was at Ellijay Elementary school this afternoon. We witnessed the buses arriving at 3:44 pm. Students loaded onto the buses in three phases. The first series of buses left the school at 3:55 pm. Phase two left at 4:03pm. And the last group of buses left at 4:10pm. This was much smoother than Friday when there were reports of kids sitting on buses for hours on-end.

Superintendent Dorsey and school board member Gary Hyde were among the staff helping children get on the right bus at Ellijay Elementary School Monday afternoon. FYN asked Dorsey what the difference was between Monday’s line-up and Friday’s meltdown. Dorsey told FYN that a lot of parents drive their children on the first day of school, but have them ride the bus home in the afternoon. He said they spent an enormous amount of time making sure each child ended up on the right bus home, and hence, there were backlogs and delays. Dorsey added it takes a little longer getting elementary school children used to the bus schedule, but he felt certain it will get better once children become familiar with the routine.

Regardless of the reasons, the take-away is simply this: Friday was real bad and Monday was much better. FYN will continue to follow any developments on this story.

Bryan Dorsey and Gary Hyde helping children get on the correct bus.