Prince George's County Public Schools bus problems enter day 3 as families demand answers
PGCPS bus problems enter day 3 as families demand answers
Parents and students are facing a third straight day of major school bus problems in Prince George’s County. Driver shortages and ongoing app glitches continue to leave thousands without reliable transportation, and families are pressing the district for answers.
GREENBELT, Md. - Parents and students are facing a third straight day of major school bus headaches in Prince George’s County, with families demanding answers as driver shortages and app glitches continue to leave thousands without reliable transportation.
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FOX 5’s Melanie Alnwick was in the Greenbelt area where a Thursday evening school board meeting is expected to take up the ongoing transportation troubles. District leaders say the issues will improve day by day, but the start of the school year has already been rocky for thousands of families.
The new Chipmunk bus‑routing app crashed on day one, leaving 10,000 students without assigned bus information. That led to missed rides, parents scrambling to drive children to school, buses running 45 minutes late, and specialty program students enduring two‑hour trips because of poorly routed schedules.
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Families remain frustrated as the district continues working through a large backlog of students without assigned routes, incomplete or incorrect routing information, and a shortage of bus drivers.
PGCPS is telling parents whose children still lack a permanent route that they can log in and locate an eligible temporary route while waiting for an official assignment. Officials say the app issues have been fixed, and additional staff are being added to process the backlog, correct errors, and review routes with excessive delays.
A family webinar is planned next week to update parents on progress.
The Source: Information in this article comes from Prince George's County Public Schools.