BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper, and other officials responded on Tuesday to ongoing frustration about the city’s school bus system, with Wu saying “there needs to be improvement.”
Only nine days into the school year, buses have been struggling to get students to and from class.
Parents have voiced concerns and city councilors have called for action.
“We already have concerns — are kids safe in school to learn?” said City Councilor Erin Murphy in an interview with 7NEWS. “And now we’re worried that kids aren’t safe on buses.”
Roughly 22,000 Boston Public Schools students take a bus to class.
In response to previous concerns, officials this year implemented a new bus tracking app known as Zum.
The Boston Public Schools on its website says the app aims to “provide a new and improved platform for parents/guardians to track their student’s school bus.”
With the beginning of the school year, though, the system has not worked. 66% of buses got to school late during the first week of school.
Murphy said she received calls from people who said buses were late, not picking up children, or dropping children off at the wrong bus stop.
In Charlestown, Murphy said parents told her they watched buses travel in circles.
“The numbers are very clear,” Wu said of the city’s bus problems.
Murphy and city council colleague Ed Flynn criticized problems with late buses last week. Together, they sent a letter to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Thursday and spoke out in a City Council meeting on Friday.
Amid criticism, Boston Public Schools Director of Transportation Dan Rosengard on Tuesday said district bus drivers have received training.
Rosengard said officials are now working to find the root of the current issue.
Skipper apologized, in the meantime, saying efficiency, transparency and safety are the district’s goals, moving forward.
“We connect with the parent, apologize, empathize with the parent,” Skipper said. “We understand that challenge and we are working really hard because of that, with urgency.”
Over the past two days, Rosengard said more than 98% of buses have been arriving within 30 minutes of the start of the school day.
Officials said they plan to provide further updates on the Boston Public Schools bus system weekly on Tuesday evenings while they hopefully correct issues.
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