BPS has bus shortages, delays as Boston students return to school, and talks about transportation, safety and teacher contract

As most BPS students returned to schools Thursday, familiar and new issues came to the forefront for many — from how to get students on the bus to renewing conversations about keeping students safe in the wake of the Georgia shooting.

BPS Principal Mary Skipper and Mayor Michelle Wu kicked off a sunny school day at Lee K-8 School in Dorchester by greeting students as they exited buses and cars to return to class.

With buses fully staffed and a new bus tracking app launched for parents and staff, BPS’s transportation outlook for this school year looked bright — but some students still reported familiar struggles getting to school.

“This morning I joined Boston Public Schools teachers and staff at McKinley South End Academy and Blackstone School to welcome students to the first day of school,” City Councilman Ed Flynn said Thursday. … “While students were excited and looking forward to the start of the school year, I spoke with several parents about bus delays and having to drive their children to school because buses were not picking them up.”

As of Thursday evening, BPS had not released data on bus punctuality.

“We know that every minute of learning matters,” Mayor Michelle Wu said Wednesday. “And when buses are late or the T is late, it impacts in so many ways, so getting students where they need to go on time, safely and reliably is a priority.”

Wu said the improved performance of the buses in recent years is “not an accident or coincidence,” noting changes to driver contracts, pressure to hire drivers and bus monitors, and new technology. BPS ended last year with a 90% on-time bus performance, below the state-mandated 95% target.

The spokesperson said that as of Wednesday evening, 8,247 BPS parents and guardians had logged into the new Zum app, which was rolled out this year to allow families to view student bus assignments, track buses and receive alerts. About 22,000 students in BPS ride the bus to school, including pre-school and early elementary school children who will not return to school until Monday.

Flynn said one parent “mentioned driving her child from Hyde Park to a school in the South End because their bus didn’t show up,” and another parent in South Boston tracked her student’s bus from Murphy School to Zum for 45 minutes “only for the app to become unavailable and the bus never showed up.”

“As we head into the first week of school, BPS leadership and BPS Transportation need to do a better job of communicating with parents to ensure our students are picked up on time,” Flynn said.

Following the tragic shooting death of a 14-year-old boy at Apalachee High School in Georgia on Wednesday, school safety has once again become an issue for students returning from Boston.

GBH’s skipper said such shootings happen “all too often” across the country and her “thoughts and prayers, like those of all BPS members, are with the families and victims and all those affected by yesterday’s tragedy”.

“I hope that on a national level we start to really take a closer look at the policies that are leading to some of these killings,” Skipper said. “Here in Boston, we’ve been working really hard. We have a new emergency management department that’s working with each of our schools and coming up with safety plans. And so we feel really prepared.”

The superintendent also cited the district’s trauma- and mental health-trained safety specialists and efforts to engage and develop relationships with students. Community members cited concerns about multiple incidents in which weapons were found on BPS campuses last school year.