Dougherty County bus crashes, parents upset after not being told

Dougherty County School System Spokesperson J.D. Sumner (Source: WALB)

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Parents and school system leaders are speaking out after a school bus accident in Dougherty County.

Although no children were injured, the school system didn't tell parents about it.

WALB spoke with parents who said that's just not okay.

"I was shaken up just thinking about what could have happened to my baby," Starler Blanchard said.

Parents are concerned, after finding out their children were involved in a bus crash.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

" I don't want this to ever happen again. It could have been way worse," said Jaswanya Blunt.

Georgia State Patrol Trooper David Fretwell responded to the crash around 8 Monday morning on Faith Avenue in Albany.

Fretwell said the bus driver had turned down a wrong road and was trying to turn around when he backed into a guide wire and caused the utility pole to snap in half.

"The kids basically stated that when the accident happened they were thrown to the floor of the bus," said Blanchard.

Dougherty County School System Spokesperson J.D. Sumner said that because nobody was injured, the school didn't call parents.

Instead, another bus came, picked up the children and brought them to school.

"We just don't want to put them through the unnecessary burden of getting stressed out and worked up when it's a minor situation, their child hadn't been hurt, and they are still on their way to school," explained Sumner.

Sumner said that if anyone had been hurt, the system would have contacted parents.

Parents said they want to know when anything happens involving their kid, no matter how big or small.

"We're thinking our kids are at school, but the whole time they are involved in an accident," Blanchard said.

State troopers said the driver is not facing charges for the wreck.

Sumner said the school system takes safety very seriously.

"The driver is going to have a conversation with our transportation department," explained Sumner. "They'll look at the scenario, go through the details, look at exactly what happened and see if there were any decisions that were made that could have been made a little better to prevent this kind of thing."

Sumner said that he understands parents concerns and that the school system is willing to work with parents to find alternative ways of notifying them if a similar incident happens.

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