CMS buses weren't smooth sailing for all on first day

Superintendent Heath Morrison and other CMS leaders proudly reported that there were no issues with transportation on the first day of classes this week, on what was a pretty smooth day overall.

But it seems like the "no issues" designation might depend on who you talk to. Parents reported a range of problems on the district's Facebook page earlier this week, and the last child wasn't delivered off the school bus until after 7:30 p.m. Yes, that's 20 minutes earlier than last year, but it's still pretty late.

The CMS Facebook page became a forum for complaints from parents whose kids were picked up or dropped off late Monday morning. To be sure, a few dozen or so complaints doesn't represent massive problems in a district of 140,000-plus, but it gives a flavor of some issues that arose.

One parent said her child waited on a broken down bus for an hour before she picked him up from school. Others reported delays from a half hour to more than an hour and a half.

The district's social media team advised the parents to give the transportation line a call.

I asked Carol Stamper, CMS director of transportation, about what "no issues" means in the context of the first day of school.

Here's what she said, via email: "It is unrealistic to think we would have no issues on the first day!  However, we do consider a successful first day in transportation being one that every student was delivered home safely….and that is what we accomplished!"

She said a number of things could result in a late bus, ranging from longer load times to make sure kids were on the right buses, to new students who weren't on the bus roster, to traffic congestion, to drivers getting used to their routes.

Want to interview Heath Morrison?

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is seeking questions for the superintendent via the district's Facebook page. Selected questions will be featured in this weekend's  "Facebook Edition"  of InSight, Superintendent Heath Morrison's monthly broadcast on CMS-TV.

Morrison

Post your question by 5 p.m. Thursday and it might be selected for the show that airs at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.  There's already a question about school security from Stephanie Moore-Rice:  "How easy is it for someone to just walk in a school during the day,  and how fast can someone stop an unrecognized guest?"

Coretta Wilson,  an Alexander Graham Middle School teacher who used to be a WCNC anchor,  interviews Morrison on InSight.  On the last Facebook episode,  he took a question from Kandace Mitchell,  a Chantilly Montessori parent,  about creating more year-round schools and one from Amy Rinehart Rosenhour about changing high school start times.  You can watch it here --  or if you want something shorter than the four-minute clip,  Morrison says he'd like to have more calendar flexibility but that's up to the state.  And he says the district will  "continue to look into" changing school hours,  but notes that there are a range of parent views and a  "delicate balance"  involved in making changes.