DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Parents across DeKalb County are not sure if bus drivers will pick up their kids from bus stops Wednesday morning.
Dozens of school bus drivers have been on strike since Friday morning. Nearly 60 drivers called out sick Friday, Monday and Tuesday.
Many of the drivers told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes they did it to get the district’s attention, and it worked.
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They say they have been voicing concerns to district administrators for weeks, but they have been falling on deaf ears.
Drivers are afraid to speak with Channel 2 Action News on camera, but they say they’re not coming back to work until they get what they deserve.
They want more enforcement of children keeping their masks on while riding the bus, higher pay, to know when a child with COVID-19 gets on the bus and to have plexiglass installed for their protection.
“MARTA bus drivers have it, Greyhound bus drivers have it, Mega Bus has it. Why don’t the schools have it?,” neighbor Marckieth DeJesus told Fernandes.
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Not every parent thinks the drivers should get what they want.
“I think the bus drivers need to protect themselves, but I don’t think they need to infringe on the children’s rights that maybe don’t want to wear masks. Maybe their parents don’t think they should be, so they should be allowed to ride on the bus and the bus driver should be able to represent himself how he sees fit, so there should be room for both,” said parent Lisa Muzi.
District officials say they are working directly with bus drivers to resolve the situation.
“If we just simply put on a mask - get the vaccine we can contain this whole virus Instead of having new variance come out every other week,” said DeJesus.
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Since parents aren’t sure if the bus will come to pick their child up, they’ll have to have a backup plan ready to go.
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