Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We waited 30 minutes for my kid’s bus for HS orientation before I gave up and drove, but it seems like the bus came through about 10 minutes after that. Really hope they get the kinks worked out next week! How’s it going for everybody else with kids headed to middle or high school orientations today?

OP here. The bus ran this afternoon on time, but it skipped our stop (the schedule says it comes down our side street, but apparently it only stopped on the main road instead) so my kid rode past our neighborhood. The bus did drop her off at the end of the route instead - the driver said she didn't know she was supposed to come down our street. Hope Monday is smoother!

Part of the purpose for running the buses on orientation day is to do exactly this - figure out what didn’t go smoothly and fix it next week.

The other challenge that used to factor in is an increase in amount of drivers on the road after Labor Day. Changes overall traffic pattern and timing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish MCPS had a bus tracker.

They do. The BOE paid for one.

Then they need to roll it out. What’s the hold up? Red tape?.

Anonymous wrote:I wish MCPS had a bus tracker.

They do. The BOE paid for one.

Special Ed mom here---I still haven't seen the bus this week. Usually they do a dry run of the route during the week before school.

I wish MCPS had a bus tracker.

Even before the shortage and the pandemic this was common on the mock days and first week. One year my child's MS bus never showed up.

A few parents who knew each other drove a few carloads of kids but that year we were new to MCPS and we didn't know anyone yet so my child had to wait several hours for the bus along with a handful of other kids.

The bus was either late or early most of that first week.

It’s always tough in the beginning. Get the bus depot number from your school so you can call and get a status or report problems.

Sending positive vibes to all the new kids! Hope they have a great year at their new schools!

50 minutes late for us!!

Anonymous wrote:We waited 30 minutes for my kid’s bus for HS orientation before I gave up and drove, but it seems like the bus came through about 10 minutes after that. Really hope they get the kinks worked out next week! How’s it going for everybody else with kids headed to middle or high school orientations today?

OP here. The bus ran this afternoon on time, but it skipped our stop (the schedule says it comes down our side street, but apparently it only stopped on the main road instead) so my kid rode past our neighborhood. The bus did drop her off at the end of the route instead - the driver said she didn't know she was supposed to come down our street. Hope Monday is smoother!

Anonymous wrote:We waited 30 minutes for my kid’s bus for HS orientation before I gave up and drove, but it seems like the bus came through about 10 minutes after that. Really hope they get the kinks worked out next week! How’s it going for everybody else with kids headed to middle or high school orientations today?

They didn’t have enough drives all summer. The start of school will be no different.

My MS student’s bus was about 30 minutes late. Then we got an email from the school informing us that it had been 10 minutes late. Nice try, MCPS.

So far, so good. 9th grader's bus arrived roughly when expected.

The busses are always a cluster in the beginning. And we have no clue if it's still coming or not: so stressful.

My 9th grader is close enough to not get a bus, but it's a far walk so we dropped them. Nervous kid!

We waited 30 minutes for my kid’s bus for HS orientation before I gave up and drove, but it seems like the bus came through about 10 minutes after that. Really hope they get the kinks worked out next week! How’s it going for everybody else with kids headed to middle or high school orientations today?