WORCESTER - The School Department sent out a message early Monday saying that a high number of driver absences could cause widespread delays during the morning pickup, but later said its busing provider made the morning runs with minimal disruption.
Brian Allen, the school district’s chief financial and operations officer, said Durham School Services “was able to cobble together enough drivers to consolidate routes,” leaving only three routes uncovered out of the 95 that make up the schools’ earliest morning run. In those three cases, he said, there might have been a longer wait – between 15 and 30 minutes in at least one case – at the bus stop as other buses looped around to cover the routes. Speaking just before noon, he added that details about the morning pickup were still coming in.
Mr. Allen said the School Department was also still working out what exactly happened with Durham’s drivers. The company earlier called in to report a “high number of call-outs,” which prompted the district to post a warning on Twitter that there could be systemwide delays as a result.
BUS DELAYS: Our contracted vendor, Durham School Services, has advised us of a large number of driver absences today. We are waiting for more specific details on which buses are late, so please expect systemwide delays this morning.
— Worcester Schools (@worcesterpublic) February 5, 2018
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