Unkept Mountain Roads Put Polk County Students in Danger

Putting your kid on the school bus could be putting them in danger.That's what school bus drivers and parents are saying in Polk County.

NewsChannel 9's Erica Green went to investigate reports of these curvy mountain roads that are for many the only way to school.

It's windy, with tight turns left and right and dip after dip. And many students in Polk County have to take this roller coaster ride on a daily basis. Bus drivers and residents say these mountain roads need attention from the county. They're unpaved with gravel,steep and too dangerous to be putting kids at risk. Parents say it's time for a change.

" Pretty rough at times. I'd say our roads up here are not kept up very well. I mean you know it's money problems, politics, you know," said Stephen Gram who has a child who rides the bus to school.

" Mountains and country roads and I think that as time goes on they're gonna get even worse," said Jerald McNeeley, a Polk County Bus Driver.

So we took driver Jerald McNeeley's daily route to take a look for ourselves.

The bus driver joked about getting carsick on the windy, unpaved roads but we're talking about more than just a bumpy ride for these kids.

" We got high embankments around here very high embankments you know. You run one of these buses off of one of those, you get a lot of hurt kids. That's the way it is. They do need to fix the roads," said Gram.

But it's not an easy fix. Many roads in the area are federally owned because of forest land. The county says money for the roads comes from state gas taxes. Many are asking how can they get the roads paved to begin with so they're safer and easier to maintain. Right now they keep them graded and residents have to help keep them up.

" It's pretty bad when we're having to put the buses on these old roads. It's not properly maintained because we don't have the money to do that," said McNeeley.

And until someone comes up with the money.. these bumpy rides for students will continue.

The drivers we spoke with say they have years of experience but they still don't feel safe driving the roads in those conditions. There is also a shortage so if a driver calls in sick they say the parents have to drive them or the kids don't go to school at all.