The head of Howard County Public Schools in Maryland said all school bus routes will be restored beginning Monday.
In a letter sent out to families on Thursday, Superintendent Michael Martirano said the school system will be using all of its bus contractors to cover the more than 500 routes.
“As I have shared before, it is unacceptable that we encountered these challenges, but it is absolutely critical that we address them as quickly as possible,” Martirano wrote.
There will also be a shift in start times of the school day by about 10 minutes starting next Wednesday, Sept. 20, to better accommodate school bus schedules. That’s a move the school system said is aimed at making sure no child is left behind.
At the beginning of September, when the school year kicked off, thousands of Howard County students found themselves stranded at bus route stops where school buses were delayed or didn’t show up at all.
Among the causes for the delays was a driver shortage at Zum Transportation, one of the contracted transportation companies that operates 250 buses for the school system,
Martirano said the school system will continue to update families with details on the ongoing bus issue with Zum.
The final three buses that were suspended are expected to be restored on Monday, Sept. 18.
The school system said once its online bus tracker is back online, the following buses will have new numbers that users can search for. The updated bus route numbers are available on the Howard County Public Schools website.
For further information about bus routes and other relevant matters, visit the school system’s website.
WTOP’s Sandra Jones contributed to this report.
