Almost every school district in the Hudson Valley is dealing with some sort of problem with their kids getting to school this year.

It's been well documented over the last few years that there is a widespread shortage of school bus drivers. The shortage is being felt in many of the Hudson Valley school districts and parents are looking for answers.

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School Buses Issues in the Hudson Valley

As we finish the first week of school, just about every school district from Kingston to Middletown has reported experiencing numerous problems with buses. Personally, my son takes the bus to school in the Wappingers Central School district and after just a few days, the only issue I have is that the bus hasn't even shown up!

The bus pick-up time we were given was 7:05 a.m. so he stood outside until 7:30 on Wednesday, with no bus. Same thing on Thursday, no bus! Thankfully his grandmother was able to drive him on both days but what is going on? After his second day of no bus, he told me that other classmates of his didn't show up to school until well after school started.

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Parents Angry with Bus Issues

The bus issues have many parents turning to social media to vent their frustrations. One parent in the Arlington Central School District said, "Arlington Central School District needs to get their act together and hire more drivers, make more routes and pay our drivers more! These bus routes are now so extremely overpacked that the kids are getting to school so late and this is unacceptable!"

I would agree that kids showing up late for school is unacceptable but my question is who thought it would be a good idea to eliminate bus routes? I understand that there aren't enough drivers but there has to be a better solution than eliminating routes, which has now led to buses being over-packed with kids.

Wappingers Students Forced to Stay at School

Another parent shared her frustrations about her child taking the bus home from school, "Keeping elementary school students in the cafeteria for over an hour after school let out for the bus to take the first batch of kids home to then come back to the school and grab the second round of kids is unacceptable. Parents weren’t even notified of this!" According to the post, the situation she's referring to happened at Brinckerhoff elementary in the Wappingers Central School District. Other parents commented saying that some of their children didn't arrive home until after 5 p.m.

It's Not Bus Drivers' Fault

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Yes, these problems stink but the bus drivers aren't to blame. Many bus drivers are on the receiving end of parents' frustrations and I think it needs to be said that it's not the driver's fault. So instead of yelling at the drivers, make a point to contact your school transportation department to explain your problem.

If you have experienced any issues with bussing in your school district please let us know by sending us a message through the Wolf Country app. Let's hope that schools figure out a way to fix these issues sooner than later!

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