Several students at Frank Ward Strong School missed their bus ride home Monday, but it wasn't because they were late. The riders were given the wrong bus number.
DURHAM, Connecticut —
On Monday, students at Frank Ward Strong School in Durham were mistakenly given the wrong bus number.
This caused half of the students who were riding that bus to miss it entirely. When the school realized the mix-up, parents were informed they’d have to come to the school and pick their children up.
A mother of a student at the middle school shared a letter she sent to the building principal addressing the issue of what happened with the buses.
“When the school announced that Bus 16 had arrived, many students, including mine, did not board, as they were correctly waiting for the bus they were assigned to. Because of this miscommunication, nearly half the children assigned to Bus 15 were left behind," she said.
The mother added that when she called the school, she was told the bus was already on its route and would not be returning, meaning she and the other parents would need to come and pick their kids up.
In another shared email, Principal David Kimball responded to the parent.
“While the announcement made was for Bus 15, the number displayed on the screen for all students to see was mistakenly listed as Bus 16," he said. "This was an error on our part, and we sincerely regret the confusion and inconvenience it caused for you and other families.”
He continued with the explanation.
“Once buses are dismissed from the lot, we unfortunately do not have the ability to recall them," Kimball said. "We did contact the bus company once we realized the error, but by that time the bus was too far along its route to return to the school.”
Kimball noted his staff is reviewing procedures closely to try and reduce the likelihood of errors like this happening again.
Dr. Sydney Leggett, superintendent for Region 13 School District, acknowledged that the school made a mistake. The team there is currently looking at ways to stop this from happening again.
"We will make sure that everyone is aware of accounting for the correct bus numbers as they come through,” said Leggett. “Unfortunately, once the buses are out, we don’t have the ability to recall them. We did call the bus company right away. Again, we completely understand how parents could be upset by this. It was an error, and we will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The bus mix-up comes after parents voiced frustrations over long bus ride times home due to traffic congestion at strong middle school just the week prior.
"I’ve been letting them take the bus in the afternoon, but for the past few days they’ve had half-days. They’re getting out at 12:30, and she’s not showing up at home until 1:30. And it’s only a 15-minute drive from home,” said an anonymous mother last week.
Leggett attributes this, and the bus mix up, to the district ironing out the kinks in the first week of school.
"We're looking carefully at the length of the bus routes right now,” said Leggett. “Because everyone is getting used to a new bus and a new routine, some of the times aren’t completely accurate. We are watching them carefully, but we need to make sure we’re not just judging anything by its the first week of school, and parents and kids are just getting used to a new stop or a new time.”
Some parents believe these problems arose from the Memorial School construction project. Due to that project, more students had to enroll at both Strong School and the John Lyman middle school.
That construction project is slated for a fall 2027 completion window.
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