ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After a father called News 6 about school bus delays and no-shows at his son’s bus stop, Orange County Public Schools took action.
“Within hours, as soon as you guys started looking into it, I immediately started receiving phone calls by the end of that day,” William Harper said.
Harper provided News 6 with a cellphone video he captured on Sept. 10 of his son’s school bus arriving late along Goldenrod Road. Harper said it’s a repeated issue that was happening on a regular basis without explanation.
“When I reached out to you guys I personally had been communicating or attempting to communicate with the transportation in Orange County for weeks to get no resolve at all,” he said.
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After reviewing the video, News 6 reached out to the Orange County Public Schools in an attempt to resolve the issue. Officials said the district was short drivers before the school year started. At the time they said there were 34 routes that didn’t have an assigned driver.
“I got various explanations, the No. 1 thing was that their system was down, they weren’t able to put out the automated calls,” Harper said.
He said not long after we pressed district leaders he began getting answers.
“They are now communicating to let us know the bus is going to be late or if it’s going to be on time,” Harper said.
“I haven’t received a call that they were coming late, they’ve been on time, pick up and drop off so everything is back to normal”.
News 6 pledge to get results proved to work. Harper said he has peace of mind now and doesn’t have to worry about his son’s academic performance suffering because of busing issues.
“You guys were my last resort and in hindsight, you’ll be my first resort next time,” Harper said. “You guys made a difference.”