Bus delays leave Brunswick County Middle School students waiting for hours

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) — Some Brunswick County middle schoolers were left waiting for hours this morning when the bus that was supposed to pick them up never showed. 

Parents say poor communication from Brunswick County Schools left kids stranded raised safety concerns. 

On Friday morning, these Leland Middle School students were left stranded at the bus stop on Coralstone Court in the Arbors at Westgate neighborhood.  

“Waited for my bus for like 30 minutes. Then I called my mom, I said that the bus isn’t coming, and then she said that there was a new bus that was coming; and then, still, we waited like another 30 minutes, and the bus never came,” said Brandon Blanchard.  

Brandon Blanchard and two other boys were waiting for a couple of hours due to transportation troubles.  

Brunswick County Schools provided WWAY with the push notification sent to impacted families through the Edulog app.  

It warned to expect delays, due to bus 337 not having a driver, and said two different buses would cover the route. 

However, it appears the drivers missed the pickup.  

The district sent another bus.  

The kids were eventually picked up almost two hours after their scheduled pickup time.  

Some parents, like Jacquelyn Blanchard, blame it on a lack of communication by the district.  

“The only thing that they said was, you know, there’s no bus driver, these bus routes are going to be covered, stuff like that, but Brandon had been standing out there for over an hour and a half by the time I called him and I was like what is going on?” Said Blanchard. 

Other parents, like Alicia Brown, say safety is also a concern. 

“It could have been a lot worse and there’s probably other kids that ride the bus that don’t have access to a phone and, you know, maybe they don’t have a key to get in the house, you know, and then they had to come back home today but their parents aren’t off work yet, so you know, there’s so many factors that could have went wrong,” said Brown.  

But while some parents received notifications, others told WWAY they didn’t receive a notification at all. 

Other parents would like to be told specific time frames rather than to just expect delays. 

Brunswick County Schools told WWAY, “We understand the importance of timely updates and will continue working to notify schools and families as quickly as possible when these situations occur.”  

Some parents have also noted that situations like these only usually happen when substitute drivers have to step in for routes.