“We haven’t had major problems.” That’s the quote you attribute to Tim Martin, the school system’s chief operating officer who oversees the busing system, in “Bus snafus add big wait to 1st day; 90-minute delays, no-shows spoil beginning of year,” Page 1, Sept. 5).
On the streets, your story points out, it was another matter: buses late if they showed up at all, kids whose names weren’t on anyone’s list.
“It’s a nightmare,” you quote one school official as saying; “It’s been a madhouse all day . . . I can’t explain it,” you quote another.
My wife and I were a tag-team Tuesday morning, splitting the hour-and-a-half we waited with our sons for the school bus.
I waited another 90 minutes that afternoon for the bus to bring my boys back. During the day I talked with the bus company, asking had the drivers done any dry runs? They had, I was told, but the school system had faxed over new routes just that morning.
These delays, these screw-ups, are not unusual. My wife and I know this going into our third year of busing. But they make us so angry and frustrated beyond measure.
It is a problem, Mr. Martin, when thousands of students and parents are not served well by your busing system. And it is a major problem when it happens year after year after year.
