Parents of Rio Rancho elementary school students are worried about the chronic delays in bus arrivals that have become all too common lately.
"I’m constantly getting messages from the bus company saying, 'Bus 486 is going to be 10 to 20 minutes late,'" said Richard Wittie, father of an elementary school student.
More than a dozen text alerts were received almost weekly over the past two school years about the problem.
Wittie said that his child sometimes arrives to school after breakfast is served and class has started, and he is concerned about his daughter's safety.
“We shouldn’t be having to worry about our students being left out, abandoned for 15 minutes, especially in an area where we have known child predators and stuff. Every moment they’re out there, you never know what’s going to happen,” Wittie told KOB4 News.
According to Wittie, he reached out to Rio Rancho Public Schools (RRPS) on multiple occasions, and the last response he received was a month ago.
“Once in a while, OK, you have an accident, bus breaks down," he said. "Fine, you swap it out. That’s understandable. But if it’s on a weekly basis, that doesn’t make sense. You want to make sure your children are going to actually make it to school."
A spokesperson for the school district acknowledged the chronic problem of late buses.
“Late buses are something that we have struggled with and continue to struggle with," the RRPS spokesperson said. "This is not a new issue for RRPS and is not unique to Rio Rancho. Many other districts across the state and nation face this exact same problem. We realize this places a burden on students, parents, schools and staff members. In addition, we continue to have a shortage of available drivers.
"When a position is unfilled or a driver is absent, the transportation department must find drivers to cover the routes," the district added. "This means drivers must complete their own assigned routes plus additional routes when needed. In fact, in order to cover the routes each day, qualified and trained office staff from the transportation department often drive buses."
The district spokesperson said late-arriving students will still receive breakfast, even if the cafeteria has to reopen.
"It is not likely that students will miss instructional time due to a late bus,” the spokesperson added. "Our ultimate goal is to ensure that students are transported to and from school timely each day. Because of the lack of funding we receive and lack of available drivers, Rio Rancho Public Schools must operate a four-tier bus system, separate high school, middle school and two elementary school routes. This means each driver runs more than one route multiple times a day.”
