Pender County Board of Education gets update about ongoing bus driver shortage
BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — The Pender County School Board was shown a presentation during Tuesday’s meeting, giving them an update about the on-going bus driver shortage the county is dealing with.
This was the first time the school board had met since the new school year started.
According to the update given during the meeting, Pender County is 8 drivers short of what it needs, a decrease from the 12 that was needed at the start of the school year.
Due to the shortage, as many as 38 double runs are done by drivers, and between 2 and 4 triple runs are driven every day.
Sarah Eckert said the presentation did not answer any of the questions she had.
“It lacked clarity, it lacked answers that the community deserves, it lacked forethought,” Eckert said. “To come to a meeting of this stature and not have that information present when you know that parents are very, very upset.”
Georgia Kurre said it will take a lot of effort by the board and the county to end the shortage.
“Frankly, it was very discouraging,” Kurre said. “It seems like we are chasing behind and we are never going to get caught up if we don’t take a huge leap forward to get this addressed.”
Kuree added that it was surprising to hear that it can take as long as 5 to 6 months for someone to be certified as a bus driver, which could extend the shortage.
Along with the bus driver shortage, parents spoke out about the firing of Topsail coach and bus driver Melvin London, due to his refusal to drive an older bus that he said had mechanical issues.
Bryan Croom said the board needs to admit that they’ve made a mistake.
“First step of being a man or a woman is admitting when you’re wrong okay,” Croom said. “And we did that man wrong, okay. 13 years that man has been doing his thing in this county and because he stood up and said that that isn’t right for our students, you’re gonna fire him. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Also during the meeting, Jason Spivey was officially sworn into the Pender County Schools Board of Education, filling the vacant District 4 seat.
The Pender County Republican Party appointed Spivey, who is also the mayor of Atkinson.
He will serve through 2026 and fills the seat vacated by Ken Smith.
Spivey has been a law enforcement officer for 15 years and completed his basic law enforcement certification from Cape Fear Community College in 2009.
