Local daycare pleads with Buffalo Schools to fix busing issue

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A local daycare is calling for action, pleading for school buses in the Buffalo Public school system to arrive on time consistently. The daycare says that is not happening right now, and they want things to improve.

Latrice Martin, the director of the Kidz Zone Childcare Center in Buffalo says the ongoing bus driver shortage is affecting kids in their education and their eating and sleeping habits.

Martin says within the last couple of weeks, new bus routes went into effect resulting in kids here being late and being picked up and dropped off late at school and the childcare center.

One day, she says the school bus didn’t come at all, so she had to drive about 12 kids to school herself and alert their parents. Martin says this domino effect from the school bus driver shortage is not fair to kids.

“We talk about mental health, we talk about the behavior of children on a day-to-day basis, so you think about it, you wake up in the morning, you’re having a great day, now your bus don’t come, so then you have to get driven to school which you’re late for school, your teacher is rushing you along, maybe you can have breakfast maybe you can’t,” Martin said.

Martin contacted Call 4 Action to see if pickup and drop off times could improve, so we contacted the district which says it expects the matter to be resolved shortly.

“The district’s transportation team is aware of the delays on the route that services Kidz Zone Childcare Center and is actively working with First Student, our yellow bus provider, to address and resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” the Buffalo Public School district said in a statement.

Since Call 4 Action contacted the district, Martin says there have been improvements this week with the kids being on time, but she is still concerned about the winter months.

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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

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