School's in session for about 3,000 Boston Public School students, but some of them had trouble getting to class Monday morning.
Harvey Sanders, a caretaker to 12-year-old boy from Dorchester, said, "This morning the bus didn't show up!"
"I ended up having to leave work early to come and deal with the bus issues," Roslindale parent Shawnda Hightower said.
"All summer they had to get this together," Dorchester parent Samine Dujour said.
School officials say 13 of the 120 morning bus routes did not run, leaving nearly 400 hundred students sitting at their bus stops waiting for a ride.
The problem continued into Tuesday, when many routes were left uncovered early on because of drivers not showing up to work, according to the district. However, the district said by 8:30 all routes were covered, though many were experiencing significant delays.
"What if you left your child there with the other kids to be picked up, you had to go to work so you leave your kid there, and now there's kids sitting there all day, who's going to be responsible if something happens?" Roxbury parent Dennis Smith said.
Jon Clark is not only a parent but co-director of the Brooke Charter Schools. He says if you factor in buses that were more than an hour late, two-thirds of the students at both his Mattapan and Roslindale campuses were left to fend for themselves.
"It's unconscionable that we can leave two-thirds of our kids kind of hanging out in the street for buses that either don't come or are over an hour late," Clark said.
The district says it was assured by the bus company - now named "Transdev" - that drivers would report for their morning routes, despite allegations they failed to show up last week to pick and practice those routes. A union spokesperson said there was an issue with how routes were calculated causing unrealistic route times, as well as lingering contract issues.
"They have some concerns around the four individuals that were let go last year, there's a hearing on them and they're moving through the process, but that's no reason not to pick kids up on the corner of streets and that's no reason to have the threat of a looming strike over our head," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said.
Officials are urging parents to prepare alternate arrangements, saying they cannot guarantee transportation.
You can check on the status of your child's school bus here.
