Parents in Yelm voice concern over transportation hiccups during start of school year

YELM, Wash. — Several parents in Yelm are complaining about transportation issues during the school year’s start.

Some say their buses have run late, while others claim their children have been dropped off at the wrong spot.

The district is urging parents to be patient as new routes are solidified during the new year.

Richard Newman has two students in middle school.

“When they got picked up, I just thought, ‘Great, they’re in school now,’” he said. “It actually ended up that I got a call about 10 minutes later, ‘Dad, can you come and pick us up?’”

Newman said his middle school students were dropped off at the high school incorrectly, with no alternative transportation to their campus.

“I happened to see about six, eight other junior high students doing the same thing my kids were doing on the phone,” he said.

Newman said the issue was resolved for the next day, but he says he still hasn’t heard back from the district for answers.

Melissa Godoy said she experienced issues last year too. This year, her son ran into trouble boarding the bus on Thursday.

“My son was told that he couldn’t get on the bus because it was full,” she said. “He was told to go back home and that there would be another bus being sent a little later to pick him up.”

Godoy said she’s understanding that the district is ironing out wrinkles at the start of the year.

“At the beginning of the year, a lot of schools experience hiccups when dealing with transportation,” she said.

Two separate parents told KIRO 7 that their children were put on the wrong bus. Others complained buses were running late. Several said calls to transportation officials went unanswered.

The district said staff is focused on supporting families as quickly as possible.

“As each school year begins, setting routines typically takes a little extra time,” wrote district spokesperson Teri Melone. “Due to the dismissal times of our schools, we have to stagger our routes. When there is a delay, it can cause a ripple effect.”

Melone said routes are based on registered riders. When a student is not registered, she said they will still be

On Thursday, Melone said one route experienced “an excessive number of high and middle school students. Students were asked to remain at the stop and informed another bus was just a few minutes away.”

Melone urged families to register their children for routes so the district could have an accurate number of students riding the bus.

It’s not the only headache the district has been dealing with this year.

School was pushed back a day at the start of the year due to a possible teachers’ strike that ultimately was called off. Teachers and the district were able to finalize a deal on their contract in the final hour.

The district has been forced to make cuts due to a projected multi-million dollar budget shortfall.

Voters rejected two levy requests recently that the district said could have helped.

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