BATON ROUGE — The head of transportation for East Baton Rouge Parish schools resigned Monday after seven months on the job. His tenure began with the weeks-long shortage of bus drivers and a two-day sickout by drivers protesting low wages.  

Former transportation head Kelvin Ridgley said he would no longer be held responsible for the problems that threw the start of the current academic year into turmoil. WBRZ obtained an email sent by Ridgely to interim Superintendent Adam Smith, Chief of Human Resources Nichola Hall and interim Chief of Operations John McCann saying he was quitting.

“I have always said that no matter what, I would do this job with a smile on my face and the day I can’t, would be my last," Ridgley wrote.

In his resignation email, Ridgley said that he took the job a week before school started but lacked the proper resources. The problems that were apparent then are still not resolved, he said.

"At this point, I am choosing NOT to be left holding the bag any longer," Ridgley wrote. "I am willing to assist with the transition of the new leader if necessary."

Ridgley's resignation comes just six weeks after Smith replaced Sito Narcisse, the man who hired Ridgley as transportation head. The school board is in the early stages of a search for a new superintendent.

The school district said his resignation is effective immediately.