Parents fed up with school bus service

Three mothers on Clay Avenue in Rochester are fed up. They say their kids get to school late regularly because school bus drivers refuse to drive down their street through construction.

On Friday morning, one child out of eight got on the bus on time around 8 a.m. But some parents say that is unusual.

“Most of the time what we're dealing with is that no buses come,” said Cynthia Anderson.

Anderson's son, Jonah, was the student forced to get a ride with a neighbor when his bus didn’t show up Friday morning by 8:45 a.m. School starts at 9 a.m., and his mother expects the bus to arrive around 8 a.m.

Anderson owns a daycare at her home on Clay Avenue and sends five other kids to school on five different school buses. She says some of their bus drivers try to avoid construction and choose not to drive down the street to pick up the kids on occasion. By the time a new bus is dispatched, it's often too late.

“The childrens' tardies are out of control,” Anderson said. “The schools are complaining, the teachers are complaining because the childrens' learning is being greatly impacted because the kids aren't able to get to school on time.”

Anderson and two other mothers in the neighborhood have been making calls to the school transportation department since the start of the school year in September. They say many times, they are transferred or referred to someone who never gets back to them.

“Enough is enough,” Anderson said. “Our children deserve better!"

Anderson says she understands it is tough for large school buses to go around construction crews, but some school buses manage to do it every day while others choose not to. She adds, construction crews have pulled over to get out of the way for buses.

A field supervisor for Student Laidlaw stopped by while New 8 was still waiting for one the bus for Anderson’s son.

He says he tries to direct buses in the neighborhood the best he can but admits there are problems.

“If it's not passable or if it's not safe, then what the drivers will do is call in and let dispatch know they can't make it down the street and we'll send a smaller bus if necessary,” said Frank Colosimo.

Anderson and her neighbors says that plan hasn't worked out.

“All we're asking transportation to do is sit down go the drawing board re-route the buses,” she said.

“We'll do whatever we need to do to get the kids to school,” Colosimo said.

Until then, Anderson says she'll have to keep asking her neighbors to take her son to school, so she can stay with her kids at the daycare and he can get to school on time.

A spokesman for the school district say the transportation department has received no reports of late buses. Stay tuned to News 8 Now as we continue to follow this story.