CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thousands of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students who ride the bus showed up to school late last school year, a WCNC Charlotte investigation found. District records show some morning buses are regularly inconsistent, unreliable and inequitable.
CMS on-time arrival data analyzed by WCNC Charlotte show the problem was especially bad for kids who attended certain schools, like Turning Point Academy, Metro School and Ranson Middle, already home to high rates of chronic absenteeism.
For Brooke Weiss, the upcoming year marks the end of high school for her rising 12th grader and the mom doesn't want Eve to miss a second of her senior year at Ardrey Kell High School. She said that would be a major improvement from last school year.
"The beginning of the school year was a disaster," Weiss recalled. "When it continued once school was really going, it was a problem."
Weiss said her daughter's morning bus frequently showed up late, forcing her to miss portions of the school day.
"It put her behind in class work. She would miss the instruction," Weiss said. "Every kid should get to school on time. Whatever the problem is they need to figure it out."
CMS reduced its number of buses by almost 25% in recent years. CMS Transportation Department Executive Director Adam Johnson said that issue, coupled with vacancies, employees on leave and absences often forced the district to scramble in the mornings.
"A lot of times, sometimes we're in that survival mode just to make sure we're getting kids to and from each day," Johnson said. "We're doing the most we can with the available resources that we have."
Bus records for most of the last school year, analyzed by WCNC Charlotte, show a handful of schools where more than 20% of morning buses were late. The majority of those schools had bell start times after 9 a.m.
"One out of five buses in the morning seems exceptionally high," WCNC Charlotte said to Johnson.
"Yes," he replied. "Any accidents that happen, there could be traffic delays and again, we're dealing with the shortages. It just kind of dominoes down and by the time it gets to those later tier schools, it seems to be more of a problem with those and so, that's where we're trying to focus our attention for the next year."
CMS data identified more than 140 morning bus trips that showed arrival times of at least 30 minutes after the bell. In all, district records list at least 20,000 morning bus trips, the equivalent of 6%, labeled "Late."
Johnson said CMS is actually coming off its best overall on-time performance year in recent history. He said of those buses that were late, 95% arrived within five minutes of the start of school. While he said parents mostly offered grace, Johnson noted CMS is taking their concerns to heart. He said the district is spending the summer identifying the most impacted routes, so the district can adjust assignments and leave more breathing room in the fall.
"Anything that we can do to make the job better, make it safer for kids and more timely is what we are here to do," Johnson said. "We do appreciate their patience."
In addition, he said CMS is dedicating a new team to focus on recruiting and retaining school bus drivers. While Johnson said there were fewer vacancies last year, the turnover rate remained too high for drivers with five years of experience and less.
Weiss said she complained in her daughter's case and the district took action. The mom said the problem stemmed from a staffing shortage.
"They explained to me that bus route, that driver was running two routes to Ardrey Kell," she said.
Weiss said she's not just concerned about her child. She wants to ensure every student who rides a bus gets to school, no matter which school they attend, before the morning bell rings.
She also said she's not taking any chances this school year. Weiss said Eve will drive herself to and from school during her senior year. She said the unreliability of the school bus last year was "definitely" part of the decision.
Contact Nate Morabito at nmorabito@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.