Late school buses throw scare into some parents

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 10:50 a.m.

Several late school buses caused some parents to fear the worst Monday when their children did not arrive home on time from school.

Parents bombarded the Clark County School District and local police with calls wondering where their children were and fearing they had been kidnapped or worse, as some students didn't arrive home until as late as 6 p.m., authorities said. They said the approximate number of calls was not available this morning.

The reasons for the delays were numerous, Ronald Despenza, transportation director for the Clark County School District, said.

The school district has 75 more routes than it has drivers so far this school year, which forced many employees to double up on routes Monday without having driven the path before. The eight to 10 drivers who were extremely late just got lost, Despenza said.

Drivers usually make two practice runs before transporting students so that they know where they are going, Despenza said.

"With all of the new streets in Las Vegas, it's easy to get lost," Despenza said.

But the latest bus was delayed not by the driver, but by magnet students who got on the wrong bus, Despenza said, a common occurrence for the first day of school. Three students all mistakenly got on the same bus, and the driver ended up having to take all of them home -- to opposite sides of the valley. That bus didn't make its final drop off until 6 p.m.

Students getting on the wrong bus or not knowing which bus to get on delayed several buses, Despenza said.

Despenza said the school district is busy hiring bus drivers to fill the open routes and is currently using sports team and field trip drivers to help out in the first couple of weeks of school before any of those activities start.

But Despenza said the school district will not reduce its job requirements or shorten the time to do background checks just to get more drivers.

"We have no choice, we have to double up," Despenza said. "That's pretty much all we can do. We will be doubling up probably until November or December."

When drivers double up, students wait at the school while the driver takes the first route home, then the driver comes back for the second route. Once all the kinks are worked out, students should only be delayed 20 to 40 minutes, Despenza said.

The school district made several adjustments to smooth the process today, Despenza said.

"Hopefully today will be a lot better than yesterday. In fact I'm sure it will," he said.