CINCINNATI — One week into the new school year, some Cincinnati Public Schools families are still dealing with issues with busing.
Many have spoken out online, claiming buses are way behind schedule and routes have gotten too long.
“The buses never showed up,” said M’Elise Millennor, a CPS parent. “Never showed up in the morning, never showed up in the afternoon.”
Millennor said she’s had no challenges with busing her child in elementary school, but experienced lots of issues with busing for her middle school child.
On the morning of the first day of school, she said her child’s bus was running about two hours behind schedule. After school, she picked her child up after they weren’t dropped off more than an hour after they were supposed to be.
She’s a single, working parent and said the issues add stress.
“I'm not getting any answers,” she said. “My kid is being left at school for hours on end, because I can't leave work like what am I supposed to do?”
The district is now offering 7th and 8th grade students the chance to opt out of yellow bus service and instead ride Metro buses. Millennor said that creates other issues.
“My child would have to do like four different stops and like take different buses, and they're only 12 years old, and I don't want them getting lost Downtown,” she said.
In a statement, a district spokesperson wrote, “Our priority remains getting students to school and home safely, and we are seeing daily improvements in transportation while working to resolve issues. Currently, all routes are running, though some are still experiencing delays as we address safety concerns, troubleshoot parent/guardian requests, and optimize and verify routes.”
The district is also now letting families submit transportation changes digitally here.
Parents with questions can call the district’s transportation hotline at 513-363-RIDE (513-363-7433) from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. They can also email cpstrans@cps-k12.org.
Millennor hopes things improve.
“Just communicate if there's actual buses coming and happening,” she said. “That's all that's all I want. Like, if it's not going to be a thing then, okay, then let me figure out another plan.”
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