What would you do if your child was waiting for the bus for 15, then 30, then 45 minutes and the bus still never showed?
One mom says she called the school’s transportation office again and again and no one answered.
The Ypsilanti Community School District tells 7 Action News it is dealing with something that districts across the entire state are dealing with: a school bus driver shortage.
It caused numerous problems for parents this morning, like Pam Plamondon.
“Have somebody to tell me what is going on, so I know what to tell him, look they are running late. They will be 5 minutes, so he is not missing school," Plamondon said. "That is my biggest thing. He is missing school.”
She says after her son waited about 50 minutes past the scheduled time. She told him he could go home since she could not get an answer as to whether a bus was even on the way.
The district released a statement saying it empathizes with parents.
Durham Transportation has increased Ypsilanti school bus driver wages to $20 an hour to compete for drivers.
It is taking applications to fill bus driver positions and has several new drivers going through training preparing to do the job. That should help ease issues with late buses.
The district knows that communication can be an issue when things get extremely busy.
As a result, it is now offering an app you can download to your phone. It lets parents know when their child’s bus will be arriving, stop-by-stop.
You can find the app at m.durhambustracker.com.
