Batavia Bus Service Will Improve, District Leader Says

The leader of on Tuesday assured parents that the bus service will get better after a first day plagued by delays.

The district received reports of late pickups to and from the schools Tuesday, the first full day of class for students.

School officials worked this summer with a new transportation provider to map out the best bus routes, and planned to address first-day hiccups with the setup.

But the problems only got worse with the weather.

wreaked havoc on the bus schedules, especially in the afternoon. A rainy dismissal for students led to even later buses for the elementary school students.

The shortest delay in some cases was at least 30 minutes, according to reports. No word on what the longest delay was, although online messages to parents did cite periods of up to 45 minutes.

The chaotic weather might have thrilled some students, but not the district officials who tried to get them home on time.

"The only people smiling (were) the middle school students running to the buses in the rain," said Jack Barshinger, Batavia's superintendent. He spoke towards the end of a Batavia School Board meeting that .

The district's new transportation provider this year is the Illinois Central School Bus Company.

"We will work on improvement of those every day," Barshinger said of the routes.

Detailed Delays

Online messages sent indicated delays Tuesday afternoon at the following schools:

• Rotolo

Parents reported Tuesday delays at the following schools on the Batavia Patch Facebook page:

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