School transportation departments use alternative routes during severe weather threats

It’s easy to dismiss students in the threat of severe weather but how your children are getting home may raise concerns.

Flooded roads can be much higher by the end of the day, which puts bus drivers in a difficult position to navigate through or around the water.

School transportation departments are taking alternative routes to avoid the possibility of being trapped on a flooded street.

Noxubee County and West Point schools are already one step ahead.

Bus drivers are going the extra mile to make sure students stay safe and dry.

When there’s high water on roads, it can put students and drivers in a scary situation.

“We have hundreds of calls a day. Parents are concerned about how their kids are going to get home,” said transportation director Tedrick Liddell.

Liddell said over 1,000 students use the bus system in the Noxubee County School District.

“Usually when the rain comes down like this we prepare for it and get with the bus driver. Tell them don’t worry about scheduling, getting kids home and to school on time. The most important thing is transporting them in a safe manner,” said Liddell.

Liddell said some of his students live in low-lying areas, and that’s caused changes to at least six bus routes.

“We have our technology department doing an on-call, being prepared for the rest of the week. Parents may have to bring some kids to some stops because the bus can’t go down in the flooded area. And there’s a lot of flooded areas in Noxubee County,” said Liddell.

Bus manager Lamar Mills of the West Point Consolidated School District said his staff is following those same guidelines.

“We will try to contact the parent and let them know their students are coming in and for them to meet us another location in order for us to get them home,” said Mills.

Mills is doing his best to keep the children out of harm’s way.

“The parents, they trust us to take their children home, so we treat them just like their our own by putting them in no kind of danger, we don’t want the parents to be worried, we don’t want to have no kind accident which can cause fatalities,” said Mills.

“We’re doing the best we can do and safety comes first, so we’re going to get them home safe,” said Liddell.

Both school districts said they’ll continue to watch the weather to determine and make changes as necessary during the week.