Thanks for the tips: I should specify, my co-worker has actually spoken to First Student (who owns the bus), the driver in person 3 times, and called the principal of Barnard about 6 times (she was told "this will only be a problem this first week of school").

Is is super frustrating. I'm hoping that by posting this we can see if more people have the same problem, and get them involved to try and make First Student step up their efforts.

It would be good to rally other parents around this issue if they're also having trouble with the pickups and dropoffs. Good to hear that First Student and the Principal have both been contacted and notified about this. I'd see if other parents on this route have also had problems (if it's possible for the parent involved here who's been having trouble to ask them what their experiences have been like) and if so, have them contact First Student too and let the bus company know! If the company gets more feedback that a particular driver isn't doing their job well, they're more likely to respond.

I have a lot of difficulties with the bus system. They brought my daughter to the wrong bus stop one day, while I waited for 1.5 hours at the bus stop. Bus is consistently 30-45 minutes late. I wrote the school board, the head of bussing (Mr Barra) and have had no response. There is a number you can call 946-8418 to complain. Good luck---everytime I have called, it has been busy.

It's clear a lot of parents are having issues with with school bus pickup and other school bus issues in New Haven. The good news is that parents are rallying around this issue. (I realize this post and these comments are from 2010 and I'm just finding it now). Teach Our Children, a grassroots parent organization is having a campaign planning meeting centered around issues with school buses on Wednesday September 26rd at 6pm at the Main Library on the second floor in the children's room (childcare will be provided upon request). United parents can make a change. It's time for us to take action. For more info please call us at (203) 786-5499

Sadly, in the case of the parent I reported this for, she and her husband decided to leave NHPS. There was simply too much disorganization and it was impossible for their family to completely re-schedule their lives around:
1. Buses not stopping or never even appearing on their route
2. Dismissal time varying by as much as 30-45 minutes, with no notification whatsoever. "Why was the bus an hour late with my kid?" "The bus wasn't late, ma'am, we just had a late dismissal."
3. Incredibly rude and inept administrators who were unable to explain the unannounced and never apologized for bizarre scheduling issues.

My co-worker really wanted her child to be in a diverse public school system where he could encounter kids from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but could not shift her schedule by an hour with no notice, could not continually leave work and wait for 30-45 minutes beyond the bus drop-off time in a panic worrying about her child's safety while NO ONE answered phones at the school.

This is the type of top-down chaos and poor management that citizens shouldn't accept or allow from their government, and I appreciate Teach Our Children working on these issues.

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