Prince George’s County school bus transportation concerns continue

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. - Thousands of students were stuck without school buses in Prince George's County Wednesday as transportation concerns continued on the second day back to school.

It comes after the district said a technology failure and routing problems led to long delays on Tuesday, where, in some cases, students spent nearly two hours on a bus.

Bus assignment issues 

What we know:

Some parents told FOX 5 that their kids' buses never showed up on Wednesday, while others had to drive their students to school. 

According to a veteran bus driver, the issues are not just logistical; they're also dealing with low morale, poor scheduling and a shortage of drivers. 

Nearly 10,000 of PGCPS' 85,000 students didn't have bus assignment information on the first day of school. Some parents said their kids' buses were late, didn't show, or they had no stops near their home. 

"We pay for this system to operate effectively so parents, teachers, students don't have to worry and stress," said parent Adam Litterio. 

"This is very unacceptable, the way that they've handled this," Litterio added. "I think there should be some accountability going forward for a solution."

What they're saying:

FOX 5 DC requested to speak with PGCPS Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph. However, school officials said they can't until Friday.

Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said Wednesday morning that she spoke to Dr. Joseph about Tuesday's transportation issues.

"They’re well aware of the issues that happened yesterday," Braveboy said. "A lot of it was because of the new app that’s called chipmunk and the bus drivers have to be trained; parents and students have to be trained."

In a statement shared with FOX 5, a spokesperson for PGCPS apologized to families, writing, "Our commitment is simple: Be transparent, fix the problems and get better every day."

Technology failure leads to delays 

Dig deeper:

PGCPS says the technology issue that hit its new Chipmunk bus system Tuesday has been fixed. But the district is warning families that some routing problems may take longer to resolve.

RELATED: New school year begins for Prince George’s County students

The trouble began early Tuesday when the Chipmunk system went down during the morning bus run. PGCPS says the system was restored by midday, but that was only part of the challenge. The district was also working through a backlog of students who still needed routes or route changes.

Some buses ran more than 45 minutes late, and students in specialty programs, including the Dora Kennedy French Immersion School, had rides approaching two hours.

Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph urged families to use Chipmunk to track their child’s bus information. The district is not promising a full fix Wednesday, saying delays and route changes could continue over the next several days as staff works through the backlog.

Braveboy said Wednesday that both bus drivers and families are still getting used to the Chipmunk app, which contributed to first‑day delays. She said the rollout is a "work in progress" with lessons learned and added she feels "very confident" that day two will run more smoothly.

"Parents want to know it's a work in progress, and progress is being made," Braveboy said. "And again, we're using the most advanced technology that we can, but then that also requires training, and I think there are a lot of lessons learned. And again, our superintendent is on top of it."

Parents are advised to check Chipmunk for route and arrival information before sending children out. And if a child still doesn’t have a correct route, the district says families should not place them on another bus. Instead, they should work with their school or transportation staff to get authorization for any temporary assignment.

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