ST. LOUIS, Missouri (First Alert 4) – St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) officials said Monday they are working to resolve issues that arose on the first day of school as the district rushed to get children to and from class.
This came after Missouri Central terminated its contract last spring and SLPS responded with a transportation plan involving multiple providers.
“Ultimately, the bus thing doesn’t work,” said Kenita Remiee.
Remiee said after her children’s transportation plans kept changing – and the bus stop was too far from her home – she decided to drop the kids off herself on Monday.
“This really cuts into our schedule,” Remiee said.
SLPS launched its unique transportation plan on Monday, involving more than a dozen companies that use buses, vans and even regular vehicles to transport students to school.
“It’s a mess. It’s giving me a headache. You need to figure it out as soon as possible,” said Deanna Allen.
Allen told First Alert 4 that after receiving conflicting messages from two different transportation companies, she called SLPS and was told there was no ride home for her two children, so she had to do it on her own.
“I’m not going to be able to use my lunch break every day to pick them up. That’s something I have to figure out,” Allen said.
The district leaders spoke to the media on Monday afternoon.
“The same thing can happen tomorrow,” said Dr Millicent Borishade, deputy director of the SLPS.
Dr. Borishade prepared parents for a similar situation on Tuesday. The district apologized to parents for any inconvenience. She said SLPS had a 72% attendance rate on Monday, similar to the first day of school last year.
“72 is a good start for us and we will build on that,” said Borishade.
First Alert 4 also received an email saying that transportation providers “are not yet numbered, but drivers should know their numbers and their students.”
We asked Borishade about it and she said she immediately worked to resolve the issue.
“I told the schools to provide the numbers,” Borishade said.
She also said that afternoon care would be available for all students for the time being if parents were unable to pick up their children due to transportation problems.
Parents like Remiee desperately hope that SLPS gets this right.
“We really need to find a solution for these children,” said Remiee.
Borishade said if children are late due to transportation problems, there is a grace period.
“It’s not her fault,” Borishade said.
The district did not have any figures on how things were going on Monday, but said it would release them soon and hold suppliers accountable.
Tracy Fantini of the SLPS Parent Action Council said testimony from other parents on Monday ran the gamut: some had problems, while others had no problems with transporting their children.
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