New tiered bell schedule used in Pender County, parents voice disapproval of early pick-up times

HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — Monday was the first day of school for many students across the Cape Fear, including Pender County, which introduced a new 3-tiered bell schedule.

A major topic of discussion during the last school year, the new schedule was put in place to help alleviate a bus driver shortage in the county.

Under the previous two-tier schedule, some students were reportedly arriving home around 5:30 pm.

It also affected drivers, with some having to do double or even triple routes, to ensure students got home.

Pender County Schools Director of Transportation Britton Overton said the first day went well.

“It’s been a busy first day getting in, as it is every year,” Overton said. “What I can say is we had a driver for every single bus this morning, driver for every bus this afternoon. All our buses were, started their routing on time, on schedule.”

Several parents voiced their disapproval of the new schedule on social media.

While others, like Samantha Coleman, opted to drive their students to school due to the early pickup times.

“Having the bus come at 5:30, 5:45 in the morning, is just creating a lot of, you know, problems with all the community,” Samanatha said. “I see it a lot on the Facebook pages.”

Her daughter, Layla, said taking the bus with this new schedule has too many negatives.

“I like to sleep in, it’s just better for me,” Layla said. “I feel like I can focus more in school when I get like a good full night of rest. It just takes way too long. It doesn’t, I don’t end up getting to class on time and they count me as tardy.”

Overton said any changes to bus routes or the number of buses won’t be made until at least 10 days into the school year, to give drivers time to learn their routes.

Overton added that any changes to the actual tiered bell schedule would not likely be made during the school year.