Heavy Bus Delays for Windsor Schools

It was a bumpy start to the school year in Windsor after issues with bus routes, including delays of several hours.

On Wednesday the school district met with its new bus provider, DATTCO.

They promised changes which would improve service and on Wednesday all students were home by 5 p.m.

That was a difference from Tuesday.

Some parents had their kids dropped off close to 6 p.m., while others gave up and went to the school to pick up their children.

“It was very frightening. We weren’t even aware, sure our child was even on the bus or what bus they were on,” said Julie Fraysier.

The district points to delays which started with the high school. Those spilled over to the middle school and then became worse at the elementary schools.

Students whose bus drop-off times were supposed to be around 3:30pm still were not home hours later on Tuesday.

In a message to parents, superintendent Dr. Craig Cooke wrote, “Bus transportation to and from school (Tuesday) was delayed well beyond the normal even for the start of the school year.”

At one point Windsor police had to help, directing parents to pick up their kids and officers had to bring some kids home.

DATTCO said it expects issues with the start of the school year, but admits in Windsor the process “did not operate as efficiently as planned.” It would work with the district to smooth over “bumps” by changing routes, updating student lists, and making sure everyone is familiar with the routes.

The district said it wishes there had been more training for drivers before the school year, which possibly would have helped prevent some of the concerns.

“With some 50 percent new bus drivers doing those routes and running into some issues it was significantly delayed,” said Cooke.

On Wednesday, the district announced a school worker would ride on as many elementary school buses as possible to improve communication and speed up the drop off of students this week. 

Also extra staff were added to answer phones at schools for parents who have questions about their children. The automated phone message will be turned on after all students have been dropped off.

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