OHIO CO., KY (WFIE) -
The first day of school for Ohio County students didn't exactly go according to plan.
Some parents say their children arrived home late on the school bus.
Several Ohio County parents contacted 14 News asking us to figure out what caused Tuesday's bus problems.
On Wednesday, 14 News met with superintendent Scott Lewis to get some answers.
There's something new this year, the high schoolers get out of school earlier than the elementary school students.
"That's something they changed over the summer," Lewis said.
Some parents are not fans of that.
"I don't feel safe putting my kid on the bus and that's why I'm here today to pick her up," said parent Stephanie Logsdon.
Some of the elementary school students got home a lot later than expected Tuesday night.
"We started at the high school and middle school this year. We were probably 30 minutes before we left those parking lots, so that obviously put us 30 minutes behind on our bus routes," Lewis said. "You add some time when you get to the elementary schools and your first day bus rides are quite long."
The reason for the delay, Lewis said, "Kids not knowing what buses to get on at the high school and middle school. You have kids no matter how many times you announce it during the day, come down if you don't know what bus to ride. There was some traffic that factors into it. Some of our elementary schools where a lot of parents were there picking their kids up and our buses were there trying to get in. We noticed some buses had a lot more kids than others. We had a lot of kids move into our elementary schools."
Lewis says they are working to fix the problems.
"We're not pleased with the way yesterday went obviously and we can do better. We have some sheriff's deputies that are going to be at some of our schools to help with traffic," Lewis said.
Staff members are also going over which bus to get on with students helping to speed things up and prevent overcrowded buses.
"I'm glad they're taking action. I think somebody needs to issue the parents a public apology," Logsdon said. "You know how many kids are in the school system. Send enough buses. If you have too many buses than you're better off that way."
Lewis tells 14 News Wednesday's bus runs went a lot better, and adding there's always room for improvement.
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Staff members are also going over which bus to get on with students helping to speed things up and prevent overcrowded buses.
