Stranded Kindergartners, Bus Issues Leave D161 Parents Furious

MOKENA, IL — Parents in Summit Hill District 161 are anxiously waiting for the district's bussing service to right itself, after a tumultuous start and numerous issues the first week of school.

Issues including bus stops moved without notice, late pickups and dropoffs, prolonged trips and delayed communications have parents stewing, wondering how things went so drastically wrong and demanding accountability from the District and bus company Safeway Transportation.

"Buses never showed up to pick up kids," said Lisa Brace, one concerned parent. "Kids were left standing at the school, waiting for buses that never showed up. Kids were put on buses, and the buses drove around the neighborhood for an hour and a half to two hours. Parents were calling asking where their kids were."

While some kinks are expected in the first days of the school year, the ones experienced by District 161 parents far exceed that, Brace said. Late arrivals can be understood, she stressed—to a point.

"We certainly give grace for 10 to 15 minutes, we don’t give grace for an hour, kids dropped at wrong stops, kids never transported at all," she said.

Some students at Dr. Julian Rogus School—like Kim Rosenthal's kindergartner—were kept on buses for two hours, then dropped back at the school with delayed directives for their parents to pick them up.

"On my child’s very first day of school, we opted to take the bus home (Safeway bus company). School dismisses at 3:30 p.m., and our school communication app has our stop scheduled for 4:21 p.m.," Rosenthal wrote to Patch. "The school office called me at 5:35 p.m. advising me to pick up my child. The bus had brought some children back to school."

That day, Rosenthal acted as swiftly as she could, first calling the school.

"The school said the first time, 'We see the route is running. We know they picked up, that’s all we know right now,'" she said. "That was the answer I got over the course of two hours when my kid was supposed to be delivered home."

She called the school several times—4:36 p.m., 4:53 p.m, 5:23 p.m. and 5:26 p.m.

"I was told all four times that the route was running but was late," she said. "I was advised to contact the administration center for the district, and I did so at 4:54 p.m. with no response. I assume they had closed for the day. To say that I waited anxiously for my child is an understatement."

It appeared the school had been in contact with Safeway, but that Safeway was not in contact with its drivers, Rosenthal said. Rogus School serves students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

"All anyone could tell me is that the route was still running but behind schedule," she said. "Again, understatement, but no one had any other information to offer. I was terrified and in shock, wondering where the hell my kid was and why the school couldn’t tell me."

In addition, an app intended to track buses hadn't yet been activated, and wasn't until this week, Rosenthal said.

"The school and bus company offered their apologies to District 161 families, but how can I trust either organization is going to get my kid home to me in a reasonable amount of time?" she wrote in an email to Patch.

This is Rosenthal's first child in the school district. She wanted to stress the school staff's kindness toward her throughout the experience.

"I don’t blame the staff at Rogus," she said. "They were so kind, very nice. Trying to be very comforting."

Rosenthal's child seemed unfazed by the experience, but Rosenthal knows it could be scarring for others.

"My child is very adventurous," she said. "They were living their best life on the bus for two hours. I’m very lucky I have that kind of kid.

"It was terrifying," she said, of the initial experience. "I was trying to be so cool, so collected. It’s 3:45, it’s 4:15—where is my kid? It was very unexpected and horrendous."

She has currently opted to pick their child up from school, rather than them riding the bus home. She is skeptical of the problems being solved in the short-term. Her trust in the bussing service has been shaken.

"You have a certain level of trust with your community school district," she said. "I didn’t even think twice about it. ... She likes taking the bus, I’m waiting for this to iron out to see where we are."

In the days since school started, parents have demanded answers and action from district officials.

Superintendent Dr. Paul McDermott on Monday told Patch the district is working with Safeway to remedy the issues.

"We have had transportation issues throughout the beginning of the school year and are working diligently with Safeway to address them," McDermott said. "Safeway has been responsive, understanding our parents and students have been more than patient and deserve better service. We are seeing improvements and are hopeful these will continue."

Safeway issued a statement via email Tuesday.

"At Safeway Transportation Services, our top priority is the safety and well-being of the families we serve," the company said. "Since the beginning of the school year, we have made daily improvements to ensure our level of service is at its highest.

"Recently, our company has undergone some unexpected leadership changes and continues to face the consistent driver shortages that plague the school bus industry nationwide. Sill, our owner and president, Lucky Sahota, who has worked in student transportation for more than 20 years, and our team remain committed to our customers and are working diligently to make this transition seamless.

"We commend the Summit Hill School District staff for going above and beyond to assist the Safeway leadership and dispatch teams in mitigating the unforeseen circumstances of the last week. We thank them for their continued partnership and have promised that changes will immediately be made to earn back the trust of our District 161 families."

Brace said she had foreseen the issues, ahead of district officials' decision to close both Arbury Hills School in Mokena, and Frankfort Square School. The closings created an influx of students being bused to their respective schools, she said. Brace and other concerned parents had urged officials to look at transportation plans that would reflect the new district environment with two fewer schools. Brace was among those frustrated that the vote to close the schools felt rushed.

"They said they would produce a study, when they pushed the vote without ever producing that study," she said.

"We predicted it, and had they done their due diligence, it was preventable. Issue after issue, and it was all preventable. It was out there, it should have been something that he paid attention to, with great detail."

McDermott on Monday said the issues were not related to the school closings.

Initial bussing issues have been the norm in the district, Rogus parent Erica Petro said—but nothing like what she's seen this year. Petro's daughter is in third grade at Rogus.

"One of the main things that everybody was concerned about, was getting all the kids to Rogus," Petro told Patch. "There’s no safe passageway, no sidewalks. Everybody at that school has a bus route, even if they live down the street."

Petro, whose daughter suffered heat stroke after being left for an hour as a kindergartner in 2021, said she's frustrated to see more issues this year.

Petro's daughter's pickup time was changed, and her bus stop moved with little notice. When she and other concerned parents contacted Safeway, the 10 students from that Hickory Creek subdivision were moved to the most problematic stop—one near the Hickory Creek Metra station.

Petro said she's not sure where the issues originate, but that everyone seems to be unwilling to be held accountable.

"I honestly couldn’t tell you where the problem is, and that’s the frustrating part," she said. You call, and everybody’s pointing fingers. At this point, I don’t care whose fault it was—we can deal with it later—can we just get the kids safely to school and back?"

Petro said her daughter has anxiety around school, for several reasons, and Petro has tried to keep her experiences positive.

"We’ve opted to not let her take the bus home," Petro said. "We still send her in the morning. I just don’t trust them to take her home."

Brace said the breakdown in communication between the schools, dispatch, and drivers shouldn't happen, but she also doesn't entirely blame the drivers.

"There is no reason a bus should be out of reach from dispatch, there is no reason that bus driver should not know every student that gets on and off those buses," she said.

"I can understand for the drivers, their frustration, if they are given incomplete plans. Kids so young they don’t know their addresses yet. I can imagine what a setup for failure they’re in."

Brace is critical of McDermott's management of the transportation plans.

"There’s no reason we can’t invest in safe transportation for our children," she said. "That’s not a place parents in our community want to cut corners.

"He had a job, and it’s a very important job, and he didn’t do it well."