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Holly Springs resident urges Cherokee County School Board to allow bus transfers in emergencies
Summary
At the Oct. 16 Cherokee County School Board meeting, Holly Springs resident Jennifer Lanier urged the district to allow students to ride buses other than their assigned bus in emergency situations, citing past safety lapses and pointing to manufacturer capacity figures and a state code reference spoken during her remarks.
Jennifer Lanier, a Holly Springs resident, told the Cherokee County School Board on Oct. 16 that the district’s bus-transfer policy leaves families without an option when emergencies arise and asked board members to allow students to ride a different bus to a trusted adult's home in limited circumstances.
"There's actually nothing in the policy that says they can't, other than if the bus is at capacity," Lanier said during the public-participation segment. She said the Thomas bus her children ride is rated by the manufacturer at 81 seats and quoted a Georgia code citation (spoken as "160-5-3-13") that she said permits up to 120% of rated seating, which she calculated as about 97.
Lanier recounted two incidents last school year in which her daughter was misplaced on the assigned bus and another time when a stop was missed with more than 10 students waiting. "If she's misplaced on her current bus, telling me putting her on another bus is going to be a problem, then we should probably look at the policy of kids getting off a bus and knowing where they are, rather than making a parent's life more difficult," she said.
She also noted she holds a Class A commercial driver's license and urged the board to consider allowing limited, supervised transfers to trusted family members or friends in emergencies. The board did not take immediate action on the policy at the meeting; no staff report or agenda item seeking a policy change was offered during her remarks.
Why it matters: District bus policy affects families' ability to respond to unplanned events and touches student safety, routing and liability. Lanier's comments raise operational questions for transportation staff about whether routes are planned near manufacturer capacity, how the district tracks students who are misplaced, and whether a narrowly tailored exception for emergency transfers could be implemented without compromising safety or compliance.
What was said and what remains unclear: Lanier referenced manufacturer capacity (81 seats) and an oral citation to state guidance that she characterized as permitting 120% of rated seating; those figures reflect her account as spoken at the microphone. The board did not provide a legal interpretation or staff response on the record at the meeting. Any formal change to bus-transfer rules would require staff analysis and likely a board policy item at a future meeting.
The board acknowledged Lanier’s comments with thanks and proceeded to the next agenda items. No vote or staff direction on bus-transfer policy was recorded before the meeting adjourned.
