Since August 2021, Hamilton County public school officials have penalized their bus vendor, First Student, nearly $480,000 in fines for failed service routes and other performance violations, according to documents obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
First Student is contracted to run 143 daily routes, district spokesman Steve Doremus said by email. On average, First Student has failed to run roughly 90 routes each month, forcing some buses to cover more than one at a time.
“By doubling routes, buses are required to make additional runs beyond their regularly scheduled routes,” Doremus told the Times Free Press previously. “These additional runs may result in delays during both the morning and afternoon runs.”
And parents are frustrated.
“The bus stop that my girls get on, it is way overcrowded,” Lynesha Lake, whose two daughters attend The Howard School, said in a phone call. “Most days, they either have to send another bus or the kids are three to a seat instead of two.”