School bus shortage results in delays for students

MISSION — Some Mission school district students got home about an hour late Friday due to a shortage of available buses.

Around the same time the school day ended, 20 of the district’s 72 buses were being used to send students to various University Interscholastic League events.

“We tried to get charter buses in the area, but there weren’t any available,” said Craig Verley, a spokesman for the school system.

It is not unusual for the buses taking students home to run a few minutes late on Fridays, Verley said. But the school district had an unusual number of extracurricular events Friday.

The school system requested patience from the parents despite the complications a late return from school could cause the families.

The bus shortage impacted the junior highs and high schools the most but also affected a number of elementary school routes.

District officials said delays were as much as an hour.

The schools called students’ parents during the day to let them know about the delay and advised them to prepare accordingly.

The Mission school district has been struggling with its transportation system.

Earlier this school year, with the economy still slumping, the school board decided the district should refurbish some of its older school buses rather than buy new ones.

The district also placed bus stops at the entrances of several subdivisions to reduce the number of stops.

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Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.