School Department staff monitored the four bus yards that First Student manages, arriving at lots before dawn to track when drivers arrived and buses left. Each late bus costs the company $75 if it arrives up to 29 minutes after the school bell sounds, and $150 for any time after that. In December, the school system fined First Student about $800,000 for its late runs during the first half of the academic year.
School Department spokesman Matthew Wilder said the company is appealing the fines. The department’s contract with the company runs through 2013.
A spokeswoman in the Cincinnati corporate office of First Student said she was unaware of the penalties but issued a statement that said: “We remain committed to delivering excellent customer service for the district, as well as the families we serve each day. We have been working very closely with the Boston public school district to resolve issues and have made extraordinary progress since the beginning of the school year.’’
Tardy buses are a reality in congested urban cities such as Boston, where 32,684 students are assigned to ride more than 600 school buses. Traffic snarls. Buses break down. Students run late, and buses wait.
But industry experts, school officials, and city leaders agree that consistently getting 90 percent of buses to school on time is not good enough.
“We’re glad we’ve seen improvement, but no one will be satisfied until every single bus and every single child gets to school on time,’’ said the Rev. Gregory Groover Sr., chairman of the School Committee. “That’s the minimum expectation, and we need to continue to aggressively move to that point.’’
No level of tardiness is acceptable in the school transportation business, but sometimes late runs are unavoidable, said Robert Riley, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services. Unless the lateness is attributable to circumstances beyond the drivers’ or contractors’ control, he said, “buses should be on time.’’
