NAMPA, Idaho — The Nampa School District kicked off its school year on Monday.
The 2024-25 school year marks the start of change for the district. In the last few months, the district decided to close schools, move to a 4-day school week, and start school with a new transportation company.
For over 60 years NSD contracted with Brown Bus Company to get students to and from school. Earlier this year when their contract was up for renewal, spring time discussion indicated it would cost too much for Nampa School District to move forward with the price Brown Bus Co. was asking for.
The school district went out to bid for a transportation contract. They received two offers: one from Brown Bus and another from First Student. In June, the district awarded First Student the transportation bid, stating it was the only responsive bid.
The district felt Brown Bus Company didn't fill out paperwork correctly and there wasn't time to re-do the whole bid process.
Earlier in Aug., the district confirmed to KTVB that First Student had enough drivers and buses for the first day of school. Before that, it was up in the air whether they'd be ready for the school year because of the quick eight-week turnaround from the time the bid was awarded.
But even though buses and drivers were there for the first day of school, parents were upset with the process.
"It was just chaotic, to say the least," Hannah Brown, an Endeavor Elementary parent, told KTVB.
Nampa student takes the wrong bus, lost for a few hours
On Monday, Aug. 19, Brandon Hunt and his wife went to pick their son up from his bus stop. Their son is an 8-year-old student at Owyhee Elementary School.
"We discovered he did not come off the bus, so that pretty much set a lot of panic," Hunt told KTVB Tuesday.
They checked around the neighborhood, and even at former bus stops of the student to see if there had been a mix up.
"Within about the first 20 minutes, we were back at the school trying to track down either some form of communication or video to see where he might have gone," Hunt said.
The family worked with the principal to review video footage showing their son accidently getting on the wrong bus, per staff instruction, Hunt said.
Hunt added the principal of the school said in situations like this, the student should be taken back to the school district's bus depot. So, the Hunt's drove there.
Hunt added First Student dispatch wasn't answering their phone.
When they arrived at the bus depot, the Hunts were talking with staff when they got a notification on their ring camera doorbell.
"We did discover him walking to the front door of our home, and at which time, of course, we tried communicating with him, through our doorbell camera," Hunt said.
When asked about the scenario, Sizemore with NSD said, "Yesterday, there was issues with the bus system, and they were unacceptable. We understand, and we do share the frustration and concern as it's caused our or that it has caused our students and parents."
The Hunts and their son were not reunited until after 6 p.m. The 8-year-old should have got off the bus around 4:40 p.m.
"It was probably the longest two hours of our life," Hunt said.
Hunt suggested a clearer protocol so everyone is on the same page, knowing where to take the students and what to do if this might happen. He also said he would have appreciated if the bus driver went up to the door to make sure Hunt's son was where he was needed.
"Those are real life concerns as a parent, and they're traumatic as a parent, and for the child, he was pretty shaken up by it," Hunt said.
Changes to improve the bus system
The district immediately implemented new rules for Tuesday's second day of school.
- Bus drivers are now required to write down each name of student who gets on and off the bus.
- If a student misses their drop off, all elementary students will go back to their own school. and secondary students will go to Columbia High School to coordinate next steps.
- All elementary school kids are being given a color-coded tag that matches their route, which is displayed on the bus that they're assigned to.
"We're incredibly sorry for any anxiety or fear that parents might have felt," Sizemore said. "We are confident that we've identified and are addressing the identified issues from yesterday. We do not want parents to be fearful of where their children are."
Hunt told KTVB his son will not be taking the bus for the foreseeable future due to the incident. The family has made other arrangements to get their son to school.
New year, new bus routes
With the new bus company and the district having control over their routes for the first time in over six decades, changes were made to student bus routes.
Parents told KTVB some buses never showed up, others were severely delayed. Brown added bus drivers seemed confused about their routes.
Matt Sizemore, a spokesperson for the district told KTVB earlier this month that the routes were being crafted from scratch. On Tuesday he said routes were finalized just last week, which could have contributed to mistakes made on the first day of school.
"We had only ... about three months or so, give or take, to do what most do in a roughly nine-month process," Sizemore said about the district preparing for the school year despite it being the challenge they took on in June.
"There were definitely mistakes made yesterday, but I think a lot of it does have to do with the amount of time that we've had to put this all together," he said.
"Some people say their kid was spending an hour walking home from their bus stop because they were dropped off on the wrong spot," Brown said Tuesday.
Brown's child does not have a bus stop this year, due to the new routes. Her child now has to walk through busy streets to get to school.
"We don't have sidewalks on Kings Street we don't have a full set of sidewalks on Sugar Street, kids in this neighborhood have to walk down these busy roads," she said.
Brown formed a petition for parents who were also upset to sign in. The petition's goal is to get bus routes that are needed back that would make students commute to school safer, she said.
Brown took the petition to Tuesday night's board meeting to present to district staff.