In April of this year the Transportation Director for Christian County Public Schools was terminated due to allegations of sexual harrassment. The Board of Education did not even have the courage to say publicly why Elzie Pollard was being canned.
HUNEYCUTT SAID SHE COULD NOT COMMENT ON WHY POLLARD WAS PLACED ON LEAVE OR WHEN HE MIGHT RETURN TO WORK. SHE SAYS IN THE MEANTIME, OFFICIALS ARE WORKING TO FIND SOMEONE TO FILL HIS POSITION.
Roger Kerns was eventually picked as the new Transportation Director. Mr. Kerns redrew the bus routes for the entire county during the two month summer break. It is little wonder that the necessary paperwork was not delivered to the schools on time.
SEVERAL STUDENTS WERE NOT PICKED UP AT ALL YESTERDAY (TUESDAY), WHILE OTHERS DIDN’T ARRIVE AT SCHOOL UNTIL AROUND 11 O’CLOCK AND THEN STUDENTS AT CHRISTIAN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL WEREN’T ALLOWED TO LEAVE UNTIL AROUND 5 O’CLOCK.THE ISSUES STEM FROM A CHANGE IN BUS DRIVERS, BUS ROUTES AND NOT HAVING PROPER PAPERWORK AT THE SCHOOLS.
The result of the new, undocumented bus routes is a giant clusterfark that put lives at risk.
WATER WAS PROVIDED TO STUDENTS ON BUSES, A PRECAUTION LINK SAYS WAS TAKEN DUE TO THE EXCESSIVE HEAT, BUT ONE STUDENT WAS TAKEN BY HER PARENTS TO THE HOSPITAL AND WAS TREATED FOR DEHYDRATION.
Mr. Kerns and Superintendent Link are both responsible for how this situation was handled. It is my opinion that the ultimate cause is the fact that fear of lawsuits rule the day. Elzie Pollard was abruptly removed from his position based on the accusation of misconduct without an orderly transfer of responsibility.
God help all of the bus drivers this year. They will get no help from anyone else.