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Pittsburgh Public Schools' Bus Problems Frustrates Parents

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The start of the new school year can sometimes mean problems with school buses.

Some parents in the Pittsburgh Public Schools district were frustrated when they say buses failed to pick up their children for the first day of classes.

This is still a very fluid situation as the district tries to make corrections and resolve the problems. There were issues over the past two days with buses not showing up for pick up and drop off.

Parents were understanding of first day glitches, but were primarily upset with not being notified.

At 7:13 a.m. Tuesday, the bus pulled up at Steuben and Obey Streets in the city's Elliot neighborhood - nearly 20 minutes ahead of when parents expected the bus to arrive.

It quickly drove off with no students on board.

Buses came and went and parents waited patiently at first with their kids, who were headed to Philips Elementary School on the South Side.

Another bus never came.

Parents said they had a similar problem Monday with drop off as a bus never came to take their children home.

"The bus never showed up. I called the school about four o'clock and they told me there's no bus," Tina Hunter said.

"They said they didn't have a driver for the bus and asked if parents could come pick up their child," David Myers said.

Some parents waited at the stop for 45 minutes Monday afternoon and were upset that they were never notified that the bus was a no show.

"My wife is very irate. She called several times - the school and school board - and still has not received a phone call back," Myers said.

"To resolve this situation, the District will remove the large yellow bus for Phillips and move the route to three individual vans," Pittsburgh Public Schools Spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said.

First Student was on the route and It's unclear if the vans will be contracted to a different company.

South Hills Middle School also had busing problems Monday. Parents are hoping there's better communication with the new vans, which will have new pick up times, effective Thursday.

"We bring our kids up here to catch the bus and be brought home and not even a phone call, that's what's frustrating," Myers said.

Officials are asking parents who are experiencing issues with their child's busing to contact the Pittsburgh School District at 412-529-HELP.

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