Patience is wearing thin for some parents because of repeated problems with Clark County School District School Buses.
"They failed to pick up children, a bunch of them, probably 20 to 30 kids, left them on the streets of Vegas," said Colin Gates.
Gates says his son Jamel, 11, was left stranded at his bus stop near Nellis and Bonanza recently.
"I waited, until a substitute bus comes like it normally does, and it never came," said Jamel.
Gates claims Jamel made it to the corner of Walnut Avenue and Betty Lane around 6:15 a.m., where the bus would normally pick him up at 6:30 a.m.
When Jamel's mom left the house to run an errand around 8 a.m., Jamel and other students were still at the corner waiting for the bus, according to Gates.
"The school didn't really have an answer, they were blaming the bus yard. The bus yard was blaming the school. The way I look at it, it's major negligence," said Gates.
Jamel's mom drover her son and other student to Mike O'Callaghan Middle School.
Gates says he has complained but still has not received a satisfactory response.
"Any parent would feel that way, if their child was left in the street, especially because you trust the school with your child and you think your child is in second period, and he's still on the street," explained Gates.
Contact 13 asked school district officials what happened. A district spokesperson released this response:
The Clark County School District provides transportation to approximately 130,000 students daily on over 1,600 bus routes. CCSD is committed to providing safe, timely, efficient and courteous bus transportation services to every eligible student. In certain instances, bus routes do not operate as scheduled although every effort is made to do so.
We apologize for any inconvenience and staff will continue to work diligently until the goal is met to provide timely transportation service by examining the bus schedule route and making possible changes if deemed necessary to provide improved arrival and departure times.
If parents may have specific concerns regarding their student’s transportation needs they are urged to contact CCSD’s Transportation Department and speak with a representative by calling (702) 799-8111.
Contact 13 has asked Clark County Trustee Kevin Child to escalate the transportation troubles. Trustee Child has promised a thorough review and will report back to Contact 13 regarding his findings.
