Sullivan officials urge stopping for school buses

BLOUNTVILLE — The 2025-26 school year's not quite half done, but already a car and a motorcycle in separate instances illegally passed stopped school buses, nearly hitting two students in Sullivan County. In response, the county school system, with help from Sheriff Jeff Cassidy, Tennessee Highway Patrol Troopers Wallace Wills and Raymond Caskill and the Audio Visual Department at West Ridge High School, joined to make a video urging drivers to stop when they see a school bus stopped with its stop sign out, its arm extended and its lights flashing. All vehicle are supposed to stop in both directions on two- or multi-lane roads without a divided median. "We've had several very close calls of people being (almost) hit," Director of Schools Chuck Carter said at a work session before Monday night's Board of Education meeting, where the video was premiered publicly. "A lot of people don't think it is a real issue. It is." Tennessee had 767 illegal bus passes during the 2023-24 school year, the video says. Carter said residential doorbell cameras, commonly called Ring cameras, caught video of the two incidents so far this school year in Sullivan County. One involved a car, the second a motorcycle. Carter said the issue is a problem across Sullivan County, East Tennessee, the entire state and the nation. Nationally, more than 60,000 illegal bus passings result in an average of three deaths a year, the video says. Cassidy, who along with Carter, students and the state troopers appear in the video, warned drivers to beware: illegally passing a bus with its stop sign out and safety arm extended will results in fines that can escalate if a student is injured. And he said buses have cameras that will catch illegal passing, which in the United States he said statistics show will result in an average of three student deaths a year. The fines run $400 to $1,000, more if a student is injured resulting in a reckless endangerment charge. "This isn't just a ticket. It's a child's life at stake," Cassidy says in the video shown at the school board meeting. "If you pass you will get caught." The video is viewable on the system's YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crLcicbMvMg and its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SullivanCountySchools. School system Transportation Coordinator Justin Steffey helped with the idea for the video. RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFIT The board also voted 7-0 to approve amending Policy 3.6001, the Insurance Benefit Retirement Program, as recommended by board attorney Chris McCarty. During the work session, the board discussed the change, which clarifies years of service with the school system versus years of service in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System overall. An oversight in the original policy could end up costing the school system up to an estimated $300,000 and has school system officials going back to look at agreements and acknowledgments retiring employees signed. Board Vice Chairman Michael Hughes said the board may have a called meeting to address repayment plans for employees who may not have received their fully promised benefits. OTHER MATTERS The board also: • Honored three students who won a Christmas card art drawing contest for 2025: 5th grader Tilley Haile of Rock Springs Elementary School, 7th grader Teagan Bailey of Sullivan Central Middle and senior Casey Rutley of West Ridge. Each received a framed copy of her art work, the original back, copies of the Christmas cards using their images and Pal's bucks. The school system sends out cards with the images to those on its Christmas card list. • Honored the four county schools that recently received Rewards School status from the Tennessee Department of Education. The four are Central Heights Elementary, where Becky Olinger is principal and the school has won the designation three times in a row; Miller Perry Elementary, where Mike Wilson is principal and the school has won the award seven times and also was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the federal government; Rock Springs Elementary, where Principlal Aleshia Dinsmore's school has won Rewards School status six times; and Sullivan Gardens Elementary, where Principal Bill Durham's school has won the award twice in a row. In addition, Wilson and other Miller Perry officials recently presented at a national convention in Orlando, Florida, about the federal award. • Set the next board work session and meeting for 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, respectively, since the normal first Thursday meeting day would fall on New Year's Day. When the meeting started, the board voted to remove two items from the agenda: the disposition of the former Sullivan Gardens Middle School building and proposed HVAC and electrical projects at various schools. Officials, including Vice Chairman Michael Hughes, said decisions on both likely would come in the spring or mid-2026 and the items would remain off the agenda until about then. A community group wants to acquire the school and turn it into a community center, but Hughes said he wants to be sure the board makes the right decision by weighing all applicable factors, while Carter said an engineering firm is still working on the proposed school projects proposal. Hughes said it will be better to wait and see what the school budget looks like before moving forward with the HVAC and electrical work.