ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Public Schools canceled after-school activities after a protest by bus drivers left the district scrambling for transportation Monday afternoon.
In an email to parents, the district said an apparent walk-out by Missouri Central Bus Company employees left about one-fourth of the district's routes uncovered Monday morning. In response, the district canceled after-school events and asked parents to make arrangements to pick up their children if possible.
According to the statement from the school district, the protest is over "internal strife" at the bus company that "has a racial component."
Last week, a mechanic at the company, Amin Mitchell, told 5 On Your Side that he found a noose at his work bay and has been singled out on multiple occasions. He said he is one of two Black mechanics at the company.
"These type of gestures or props are just a message to what's to come," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said he went to HR about racial harassment and slurs from his coworkers. He said after doing so, that's when the noose was placed in his work bay.
"Nobody came up to me to apologize about finding a noose. Nobody came to me to see how hurt I am or to see how traumatized or how much pain I'm in," Mitchell said.
Mitchell's coworker spoke to 5 On Your Side anonymously, saying this is just one example of the alleged racial discrimination.
"I've been in industry for years and seeing a noose is nothing to me of the things that I've seen and things I've heard," the coworker said.
Mitchell said he's giving the bus company two weeks to investigate his and his coworker's claims.
He said after that is when he'll contact the NAACP.
SLPS spokesman George Sells said transportation was being arranged for teams that have state playoff games Monday night.
One parent at Buder Elementary said they had to leave work early to pick up their child because after care was canceled.
"For us it’s just really challenging because we have two people in our household who both work and as much as I have a lightly flexible work schedule it is asking a lot to ask my supervisors to please be able to adjust my schedule in order to be able to leave early from work in order to come pick up," Amber Gordon said. "And it doesn’t help that it’s very inconsistent. There’s no aftercare on parent-teacher conference weeks. There’s no aftercare sometimes pre-holidays."
Gordon said both the bus system and the after care program are inconsistent and tough to manage.
"I wasn’t surprised because this isn’t the first time it’s happened but it doesn’t make sense. Some of the schools have aftercare that kids can leave by the buses from aftercare but even then it feels like it would make more sense to still have aftercare so those families have more time to finish out their workday and then come pick up their kids rather than not have that time and have to be there immediately following the school day so I don’t know," Gordon said.
The full statement from St. Louis Public Schools is as follows:
SLPS Families,
We would like to update you on transportation issues occurring due to an apparent walk-out on the part of employees at the Missouri Central Bus Company.
First, our after-school activities are cancelled today, February 26, 2024, due to these issues.
As you may have heard, there has been internal strife at Missouri Central over the last several days that has a racial component. This alarming situation has now spilled over into Missouri Central’s work for SLPS. Several drivers called in sick today, apparently in protest of the company’s handling of the issue. This led to about a quarter of our bus routes being uncovered this morning.
We are in constant communication with Missouri Central, and we have been adamant that they need to correct the problems they are having within their company quickly.
To those who have been inconvenienced by this, we apologize. We thank those of you who were able to make alternate arrangements and still get your children to school today.
You, the families of Saint Louis Public Schools are caught in the middle of this through no fault of your own, and you deserve better.
We do not know the full scope of what is happening at Missouri Central or how long this might last. We would suggest, if possible, that you make arrangements to pick up your students from school this afternoon and be ready to make arrangements for the morning. As soon as we know more about the situation, we will share the information.
Thanks for your patience and support.
Missouri Central School Bus Regional Operations Manager Scott Allen sent out this statement in response to the disruption:
At Missouri Central, our policy is to provide and foster a work environment that is welcoming to all regardless of age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. There is zero tolerance for any behavior that violates this policy.
As such, we are hiring an independent third party this week to investigate these allegations, and we will take whatever action is deemed necessary based on what we learn.
We are working diligently to minimize service disruptions for our students, families, and administrators as we understand how important it is for our children to be educated.