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PSS is back to 12 buses
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Posted on Oct 04 2008
The Public School System is now operating with 12 buses, thanks to the quick action of Hawthorne Pacific Corp., PSS bus team leader Steven M. Pangelinan said Friday.
The school system had been down to operating with nine buses after three buses broke down during the first week of school, forcing drivers to triple and quadruple back on routes to accommodate students. Two of the buses were under warranty with Hawthorne Pacific, so PSS crewmembers could not make the necessary repairs, Pangelinan said.
“I want to really thank Hawthorne Pacific for expediting the process,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them, we’d still be in hot water.”
Bus drivers are still having to double back on routes, but the arrival of five new buses by the end of November or the beginning of December should help the situation, Pangelinan said.
The bus team will also look at extending services to Dandan Elementary, William S. Reyes Elementary and Koblerville Elementary schools at that time. The three elementary schools currently do not have bus service.
“We just need to find out from schools…which are really affected,” he added.
Koblerville is a priority, he said, because students walking to school are forced to cross a busy street with lots of motorists.
The exact number of students using the bus service will not be ready until the middle of the month, but Pangelinan earlier estimated that there was an increase of 20 to 30 percent during the first week of school, compared to last year.
Last year, 2,500 students were picked up on a daily basis.
The lack of buses has caused some students to either be late for classes for up to an hour and to get home an hour after classes are let go.
