School bus alert system questioned after dozens of kids left in frigid weather

A group of children in Dartmouth, N.S., were left waitingin frigid temperatures for a bus that didn't come Monday morningafter a replacement driver forgot their stop, leaving parents wondering why they weren't notified.

Debbie Martin said typically 35 to 40 kids are picked up at Lancaster Drive and Argus Drive. On Monday morning her son waited for about half an hour first with her and then his grandfather with no sign of the bus.

Stock Transportation, the company contracted to operate buses in the Halifax area, has a website, BusPlanner, and an app, Where's My Bus, to help with tracking. Neither had any information.

"Nomessages sent that the bus was going to be late, no messages saying it was going to be cancelled, nothing," Martin said.

"It was, I think, minus 20 with wind chill We waited and waited and waited. I was with my daughter, who is two, and I had to drop her off at daycare cause she was getting really cold."

The family's problems are among a slew of complaints against Stock this school year, ranging from missed pickups to long routes. The province is currentlyreviewing the bus system after fielding multiple concerns from parents.

Martin said she's still not confident in Stock's tracking system, as alerts can arrive hours after school starts and on Monday she didn't receive anything.

Education centre apologized

Stock Transportation's chief operating officer,Terri Lowe, said in a statement the bus driver assigned to the route called in sick and someone else was covering it.

"The substitute driver made a mistake and missed the stop, by the time we went back to the stop, parents had made alternate arrangements," the statement said.

It's not clear when the bus went to the stop. Martin said junior high students who are usually picked up later also had to find alternate ways to school.

Lowe also said the company is working to ensure alerts go out in the future.

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education called the lack of communication "very concerning" and said officials reached out to families to apologize.

"When issues do arise, they need to be addressed as quickly as possible and families need to be notified in a timely manner," spokesman DougHadleysaid in anemailedstatement.

He also said the education centre has asked Stock for an explanation about why the problem happened and what it's doing to prevent similar situations.

Martin said she ended up driving her son and another child to school. It wasn't the first time this month, either.

Last week, she said her son was taken to a junior high instead of his elementary school. The kids had to tell the driver to continue on to Shannon Park Elementary, she said.

"I am concerned about safety. I drove my son a couple times last week for that very reason," she said.

Monday's incident was the latest issue with the transportation company contracted to run school buses in several parts ofNova Scotia.

In 2017, Nova Scotia's Utility and Review Board slammed the bus operator for running a charter service without a licence, trying to force drivers to work beyond their legal limits and attempting to cover up deficiencies and infractions.

At the beginning of this school year, Education Minister Zach Churchill said he would be reviewing the bus system after complaints from parents about long routes, late pickups and stranded students.The province also announced new money for the service to keep up with an increased demand for busing.

The Education Department said it has conducted an online survey and is still gathering feedback through consultations with groups, including school advisory councils, the union that represents teachers and the minister's student advisory council. A summary of the findings will be shared with the public when the work is complete, spokespersonChrissyMathesonsaid in anemail.

Can't reach anyone

Martin said it's difficult to contact anyone from Stock, as parents often don't reach anyone when they call a general line for information.

She'd like to see schools play a larger role in helping parentsget up-to-date information and helping them file complaints if needed.

"They should have someone on speed dial, for each school at least," she said.

The Halifax Regional Education Centre said it operates a transportation line and emailwhere parents can lodge concerns. People can also file them to an online database that Stock is responsible for responding to within 24 to 72 hours, Hadley said.

MORE TOP STORIES