Wissahickon School District Remedying Tuesday Busing Issues

Disgruntled parents took to an open Facebook group Tuesday to vent frustrations on morning and afternoon busing issues across the Wissahickon School District on the first day back to school.
Parent Rich Palumbo wrote that his sons' bus was 26 minutes late to the bus stop, thus making his children late to school.
"It's amazing to me that on the first day of school, when you would want to make these kids feel good, that you could so completely blow it," Palumbo wrote on the Wissahickon Education Coalition Facebook page Tuesday.
Another parent, Mike Donofrio, actually followed that same bus—No. 175—and wrote on the Facebook group that the bus was 11 minutes late to its first stop, and at that stop, the driver allegedly stopped for 10 seconds before proceeding to the next one.
"The kids at the first stop walked to the second to get picked up. Bus then blew off stops 3 and 4 and appeared to be going in circles looking for the next stop, driving by your stop on the way," Donofrio wrote. "The driver clearly was lost, had the wrong map or had no idea what was going on."
Donofrio called the district transportation office to report the issue. 
Another parent, Karen Palmer, wrote that the bus driver missed the first stop and told parents that he never took that route before this year.
Dan Ciliberto wrote that his daughter's bus was 23 minutes late at the bus stop at Mattison Avenue Elementary School.
"We saw the bus go by four times before it stopped to pick up the kids," he wrote.
Many parents on the Facebook group hoped it was just a first day of school issue and anticipated the district would work out the kinks in the next couple days. 
In fact, the district has already started a reactive approach to the issue, as of Tuesday afternoon, said district business administrator Wade Coleman.
Coleman said he did not receive any complaints from parents, but Director of Transportation Marie Carsillo was aware of busing issues Tuesday.
"We had a First Student bus in the Ambler area that missed stops in Ambler," Coleman said. "(Carsillo) was meeting with a student at 1 p.m. to tell her it will absolutely not happen again."
The district's approach is reactive and proactive, so much so, that Coleman will be following said bus tomorrow morning.
"I will personally be going to the first stop in Ambler tomorrow and follow the bus to make sure it stops at every location," Coleman said. "If there is any problem, I'm in a position to call for a second bus."
He said these types of issues are typical of the first day of school.
"Obviously, we prefer they never happen, but every year there are new circumstances and every year there are transportation problems, no matter what good opening you have," Coleman said. "Certainly, if there are problems, we work through them and get them concluded as quickly as you can."