Broward County school bus problems solved in time for first day of school

Broward County schools' superintendent Robert Runcie says a computer glitch responsible for a delay in bus route assignments has been fixed.

Local 10's Todd Tongen asked Runcie about the glitch at the Oakland Park bus yard before the sun came up on the first day of school. Runcie stated that all pick-ups and drop-offs in the county should go smoothly today.

"We're picking up all students wherever they are today," said Runcie. "We're making sure they get to school on time."

Parents lined up outside a Pompano Beach bus depot over the weekend hoping to find out what went wrong.

Usually, bus numbers and routes are mailed out to families ahead of the start of the school year. According to the Broward County Public Schools, there was a delay in getting those cards in the mail.

"They said they mailed them out late Wednesday and we haven't gotten them yet and I need to make sure my kids have a ride home," said Bonnie Taepakdee, who was one of many parents waiting on Sunday morning.

A spokesperson with Broward County Public Schools said a glitch in the system that generates the bus routes affected about 2,500 students in the district. That's about 2.8 percent of the 88,000 eligible students in Broward.

"It's a PR nightmare. It makes the entire Broward county school system look bad," said Julie Carlisle, a parent. "Teachers haven't gotten raises, there's charter schools, all these things that make the public system look bad and now we're standing in the heat to our kids on the buses."

On Saturday, several hundred people lined up outside a bus barn off North Powerline Road and Northwest 17th Street. The school district allowed them to sit in the air-conditioned buses while waiting for their bus routes.

If parents are still unsure about bus route information on Monday, the district is asking them to go to their children's school for information.