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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

School bus safety weighs on Hamilton County drivers, schools

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Students get off the bus Aug. 8, 2024, for the first day of school at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, a magnet school.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Students get off the bus Aug. 8, 2024, for the first day of school at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, a magnet school. Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Students get off the bus Aug. 8, 2024, for the first day of school at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, a magnet school.


A retiring school bus driver said she hoped Hamilton County would make transportation safety more of a priority.

Janell Davis told members of the Hamilton County Commission last week that there should be more training provided to the drivers who take students to and from the county’s public schools. Davis said that she will retire from her job as a driver with a contract company that works with the schools to service bus routes this month.

The school system does not employ its own drivers.

“Further training for these contractors, their drivers, needs to be done,” Davis said in a public comment period during Wednesday’s meeting. “Not just said, and not just sitting in front of a computer typing and looking at videos.”