PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – The first day of school for Pender County on Monday brought the first day of a new three-tiered bell schedule.
The new schedule, a product of a nationwide bus driver shortage affecting the district, altered pick-up and start times for schools in the eastern part of the county. Topsail High School now begins at 7:10 a.m., elementary schools start at 7:55 and middle schools begin at 8:40.
On the first day, parents expressed concern with the impact the new schedule had on traffic, with stretches of Route 17 stuck in standstills for miles. Parents reported taking over an hour to get their kids to school, and school buses didn’t fare much better…