ALTON - Illinois Central School Bus and the Alton Community Unit School District #11 (ACUSD11) have issued statements following bussing complications on the first day of school.
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On Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, confusion about the bus routes resulted in some ACUSD11 students riding the bus after school and others being kept at school until parents picked them up. Parents have taken to social media to express their frustration. Many parents said they didn’t know where their kids were for up to two hours after school let out on Thursday.
During the ACUSD11 Board of Education regular meeting on Aug. 20, 2024, Scott Allen identified himself as the regional operations manager for Illinois Central School Bus (ICSB). He apologized for the complications and said ICSB took “full responsibility” for the issues.
“As you're aware, Illinois Central has had a particularly difficult start to the 24–25 school year,” Allen said. “On behalf of your student transportation team, I'd like to first apologize to you, our parents, our students, our community and administrators. I also want you to know that we take full responsibility and are working around the clock to fix all of the challenges. We appreciate Alton public schools and their efforts to work with us as we continue to work through the challenges.”
Allen said ICSB has “added several resources to support these challenges.” They are adding “routing support,” including working with a third party that specializes in the software used in Alton’s buses. He added that “one of [their] biggest challenges” has been communication with parents, and he said they are working with ACUSD11 administrators to increase communication between parents and the bussing company.
“There is transportation there. It's just not been accessible to the parents, so we're working through that,” Allen said. “I have great confidence that we're going to get there for that. I thank you for your patience.”
Allen added that recent days have been “much better,” though he said there is “no doubt” that there have been issues.
Three tearful parents spoke about the complications they faced in trying to locate their children after school on Thursday. Parent April Bean said her 5-year-old child was left at Gilson Brown Elementary School and she did not receive a call until 4 p.m. on Thursday.
“The thoughts that go through a parent's mind when their 5-year-old epileptic child does not come home to them — put that in your mind right now,” Bean said. “There's 220 registered sex offenders and predators in Alton and Godfrey. Do you know that could have ended so differently for so many kids?”
On Monday, Bean said her 3-year-old autistic nonverbal child was released from early childhood education at 2:50 p.m. and sat on the bus until 5:30 p.m. She said that she put an Apple tracker in his backpack and was surprised to see that he traveled “all over Alton.”
“My child spent more time on a bus than he did in a classroom,” she added.
Superintendent Elaine Kane spoke during the school board meeting and said the district is “devastated” by the transportation challenges that have been faced by students and families so far this school year. She added that the district will continue to support students and families while these issues are being addressed.
“We're devastated by the experience of our students and families and the transportation that was not provided,” Kane said. “Certainly, it goes against everything that we prioritize here in the district regarding the student experience…I know everyone on our team has bent over backwards to try and make this work. The corrections process is not within our control, but we have absolutely done everything we can on our end, and we continue to advocate for our students and our families.”
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