APPLETON (NBC 26) — The Appleton Area School District is telling parents that school bus delays may continue into next week.
In an email sent to parents, AASD encouraged families to make alternative plans, if possible, for getting their kids to school.
Officials wrote that due to, "a shortage of drivers and other unforeseen technical issues, Lamers has been unable to resolve the issues with delays that occurred yesterday. Unfortunately, this means they are anticipating similar delays today and tomorrow."
The email also said Lamers believes they can resolve these issues by early next week.
A computer glitch led to students' names disappearing from bus route lists, said Michael Weihing, the manager at the Lamers Fox Cities terminal.
The glitch meant bus drivers did not have all the names to be able to call out which students were supposed to exit at which stop, which led to some students still on board when the route should have been finished, Weihing said. The students were then dropped off and no one was unattended or unsafe, Weihing said.
Similarly, in the morning, bus drivers may not admit students to the bus unless their name is attached to a stop, so the missing names caused delays, Weihing said.
Lamers officials plan to work through the weekend and have the issue fixed by Tuesday, Weihing said.
Weihing also apologized for Lamers office staff not being available to quickly answer phone calls, as most office workers were driving buses due to a driver shortage.
"We are also experiencing delays in the return of bus routing information; longer than initially anticipated," AASD's email to parents said. "Households will be contacted on Tuesday, September 7th for bussing updates to start on Wednesday, September 8th."
Children who are late to school due to bussing issues will have an excused attendance, the school district says.
