Parent warns of extreme heat, restricted water and seating on Trousdale County school bus

A Trousdale County parent raised alarms at the school board meeting about heat, seating and water restrictions on a district school bus.

Jesse Johnson told the board he had photos and infrared thermometer readings showing interior bus temperatures between “105 and 117” degrees and said windows were usually only halfway down. He said drivers sometimes told students not to drink water and that his high-school son had been moved to a front seat and reprimanded for giving a classmate a fist bump. “I still don't understand why we can't put the windows all the way down on school buses,” Johnson said, and asked the board to look into whether the driver should be assigned routes.

Administrators responded that assigned seating is a district policy (not a state statute) and that bus drivers are responsible for enforcing seat assignments and end-of-route checks. Mr. Wilson and other staff said they had assigned monitors to ride the bus on several afternoons; written summaries from those observations described windows “halfway open,” roof hatches open for ventilation, and students quiet and seated. One monitor noted students drinking water because of the heat but reported no yelling or major disturbances during the monitored rides.

Board staff told Johnson that if a student had been formally disciplined a written report would be generated, routed to the principal and the parent would be notified; administrators also said they would continue investigating the specific allegations Johnson raised and encouraged other parents with concerns to report incidents so staff could address them.

The board did not take immediate disciplinary action during the meeting; trustees said they were actively seeking more drivers, discussed certification barriers in nearby testing locations, and asked administrators to follow up with families and bus supervisors. The board asked that complaints be reported to the district so they could be investigated and documented.