By Rebecca Gaunt
The purchase of 30 new school buses renewed tensions over safety, which have been lingering since the bus fleet maintenance crew showed up at the April Cobb school board meeting to report their concerns.
The district plans to purchase new 2026 72-passenger, gas-fueled Bluebird school buses from Yancey Bus Sales & Service for $4,965,720.
Funding will come from SPLOST VI and Georgia Department of Education FY 2026 state funds.
Marc Smith, the district’s chief technology and operations officer, presented the agenda item during the work session and said he also wanted to address “false statements which have recently been made regarding safety of our buses.”
“With approximately 1,000 buses in the fleet, we do experience issues that take buses out of service for repairs. This is why we have backup buses…The current average of the bus fleet is 11 years old, not what has been erroneously stated multiple times from 20 to 25 or plus years,” he said.
“After our recent state inspections, there were incorrect comments made that our fleet was unsafe and that up to two-thirds of the fleet were deemed unsafe and taken out of service. This is grossly incorrect.”
He also said the new leadership supports all staff and that air conditioning has been a standard since 2019. However, the fleet currently stands at 399 buses with A/C and 592 without. Based on current prices, it will take $98 million to get to 100%.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said, “When incorrect, inaccurate information is presented as accurate information, it is incumbent on us, especially when student safety is invoked as somehow a catchphrase by somebody wanting to make a bigger splash than necessary, and then alarming parents unnecessarily to the fact that perhaps a large majority of our buses are unsafe. That is simply untrue and unacceptable that people would take student safety as some flippant topic to try to score brownie points and we’re just not going to stand for it.”
Board member Randy Scamihorn tried to assess what would render a bus unsafe.
“In all of our conversations and allegations, has anyone ever asked those that are making inquiry what they think is unsafe?” he asked.
At the evening session, Eric Carroll, a 14-year employee of the fleet crew, returned to the podium to respond to those comments.
“In the earlier meeting today we were called liars. I challenge any of you to come and let’s sit down one-on-one with the facts that we brought forward and let’s look at it…y’all want to take second-hand information, you ask somebody that probably job’s on the line. If they were to say, ‘yeah, he’s right we’re having issues in transportation,’ they’re thinking ‘they’re gonna fire me if I say that,” Carroll said.
“I’ve stuck my neck out further than any of you ever will,” he continued.
Questioned on social media about why the board members have not yet met with the maintenance crew or visited the shop, board member Becky Sayler said they were informed that they were not allowed while the investigation the superintendent initiated after the April meeting is being conducted. Ragsdale confirmed Thursday that it’s still ongoing.
Vapor Wake K-9s
The board granted Ragsdale his request for up to $2 million from the fund balance to purchase eight more vapor wake K-9s for his plan to put one at each of Cobb County School District’s traditional high schools.
He estimated the full cost to be closer to $2.6 million with SPLOST funds covering handler and equipment costs.
The district has already purchased eight vapor wake dogs from Global K9 Protection Group, an Opelika, Alabama-based company founded in 2018.
The dogs are trained to alert for weapons and explosives. Ragsdale said local police recently asked for assistance in finding a weapon thrown out a car window during a chase. The dog was able to locate the gun in a ditch.
Sayler asked for data on the dogs’ successes, such as confiscations of weapons, and whether the board could review that information prior to the vote.
“Not to talk about publicly…the motion is on the table now. We would have to gather that information,” Ragsdale said.
Sayler’s request to table the motion until more information was available was unsuccessful. Ragsdale’s request was granted 6-1 with Sayler opposed.
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.
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