Cobb County mechanics tell school board aging buses, missing equipment and low pay threaten safety
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Summary
Fleet maintenance employees told the Cobb County School Board they are short-staffed, working extended overtime and lack diagnostic equipment while many district buses and service vehicles are decades old, raising worker and student safety concerns.
Mechanics and fleet-maintenance staff told the Cobb County School Board on April 24 that aging vehicles, failing equipment and low pay are hampering safe bus service and driving experienced employees away.
The comments, made during the public-comment portion of the meeting, came from Eric Carroll, a fleet-maintenance worker; B. J. (Tinker) Bailey, a mechanic at Sanders Road Bus Shop; and Danny Hendricks, a 10-year district employee, who described long hours and understaffed shops.
“We're just pushed aside,” Eric Carroll said, recounting attempts to raise safety issues with supervisors that he said went unresolved. B. J. Bailey told the board diagnostic tools are missing at many shops and that equipment “has lived its life” and breaks down frequently. Hendricks said mechanics worked 12-hour days for nine straight days during a recent state inspection and warned that fatigue increases the risk of errors involving brakes, steering or lights.
Why it matters: The mechanics said short staffing and outdated tools raise the risk that buses will not be properly inspected or repaired before carrying students. They urged the board to invest in equipment, staffing and pay to attract and retain qualified mechanics.
Details cited at the meeting included: employees saying every bus shop in the county is short-staffed; mechanics working sustained overtime; service and maintenance trucks dating to 1999; and buses in daily use that employees described as about 25 years old. Commenters also said pay is lower than neighboring counties, making recruitment difficult.
Board members did not take immediate action during the meeting; several board members later discussed the budget and asked administration to provide more detail on transportation and fleet needs before final budget approval. Board member Sailor asked administration how to locate fleet and transportation line items in the proposed FY26 budget for follow-up. Mark Smith, who later led a different agenda item, was identified earlier in the meeting as a district official with responsibility for operations.
The public comments were part of a larger pattern of worker appeals during the session asking the district to address maintenance shortfalls and staffing. Mechanics asked the district to prioritize diagnostic equipment, replace failing tools and revisit compensation to prevent further departures.
The board did not vote on fleet issues at the April 24 meeting. Staff promised follow-up conversations and said budget documents would be available online ahead of the board's final budget vote on May 15, 2025.