ST. LOUIS — At the end of week four, the transportation saga in St. Louis Public Schools continues as parents say they keep getting the run-around from district officials.
A dozen SLPS parents said their children still don't have transportation. Many parents now wonder when their students will finally get a ride to class.
Since school started on Aug. 19, 5 On Your Side has reported on students who haven't been picked up for class and parents who weren't given any answers about why.
That's still the case for some families as of Friday evening.
The lack of reliable school transportation has impacted a single working mom, Shawntay Vaughn, and her daughter, Jenna.
"Single moms like myself rely on our school system as an additional support system. I could move to a school district where they provide adequate transportation, but I want to believe in and support the St Louis City Public School system. I now have a shortened work schedule to accommodate picking up my kids from school," Vaughn said.
Jenna, a junior at Sumner High School, was promised a van service over the summer, but it never showed up.
"She does not have a ride to school at this point. She was given a bus pass, and she has been catching Metro to school and I pick her up in the evening," the mom said.
Vaughn worries about her daughter's safety and no longer wants her to ride the Metro Bus to school. In the afternoon, Vaughn has to leave work early to pick her up.
"We're not even going to talk about the safety issues from catching the Metro Bus. Even once she catches the bus down the street, she still has to walk a considerable amount before she gets to the school. I don't want my child walking through the neighborhood of north St Louis to get to school in the morning. Something has to change," Vaughn said.
Currently, 458 students are using Metro passes. Acting Superintendent Dr. Millicent Borishade said their partnership with Metro Transit has been instrumental in getting high school students to school.
All three of Jada Franklin's children still don't have transportation. Two of her children attend Gateway STEM High School, while her kindergartener attends Pierre Laclede Elementary.
"It's been busy and exhausting because we are their main source of transportation, so we have to modify our schedules to fit around them," Franklin said.
Due to the lack of school-provided transportation, she and her husband have had to adjust their work schedules to ensure their children get to and from school. Franklin had to start working part-time to drive their three kids back and forth.
"It's been pretty tough, especially since that's interfering with the income, but the children do come first," said Franklin.
At Tuesday's school board meeting, Dr. Borishade acknowledged the transportation challenges but said the district is working hard to improve them.
Borishade addressed the long wait times for the call center and said they hired 15 newly trained phone operators to help with complaints. It now has 25 Adopt-A-Stop volunteers come out daily to ensure students are safe while waiting for their bus or transportation vendors.
On Sept. 3, nearly 1,000 more students were assigned to yellow bus routes.
The district said they're sorting through at least 500 bus stop request changes from parents, which is also impacting their data.
"I feel like this situation could make a parent lose their job and source of income. This transportation issue is going to affect a lot of parents in a lot of different ways. We can deal with the kids maybe being late to school but not getting picked up at all for school—that's not an option. Their education is contingent upon them being at school. So if they aren't at school, they aren't getting transported to school, they can't learn. This is affecting their education overall," Vaughn said.
There are 421 non-bus vehicles currently getting students to school by cabs, vans and rideshares.
Borishade said the district meets weekly with First Student and other alternative transportation providers to share feedback.