Students in Boston Public Schools haven't even been back at school for a week yet, but many of them are apparently already arriving tardy.
On the first day of school, half of buses were on time, according to data provided by the district. That's improved each day since rising to 73% on time for Monday, the third day of the school year.
But as The Boston Globe first reported, even after the improvement, the district still falls significantly short of the state requirement that 95% of school buses must arrive on time.
"Getting our students safely to school in the morning and returning them home at the end of the day is central to our mission of making sure every student gets what they need to succeed. Our bus arrival times before bell time and after bell time continue to improve," the district told NBC10 Boston in a statement.
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By Monday, 93% of buses were arriving within 15 minutes of the start of class, and all but 1% of buses had arrived within half an hour.
The district is attributing bus lateness to several factors, not the least of which is the Orange Line shutdown, the Globe reported.
The Orange Line shutdown is having an impact on traffic for all drivers, not just school buses, with dozens of shuttle buses adding to the congestion during morning and afternoon bus routes.
Traditionally, Boston had only offered bus service for student in grades K-6. This year, though, BPS is offering bus service for middle schoolers. 500 students took them up on the offer.
Boston provides transportation for more than 20,000 students to 224 schools everyday.
The true test for Boston's school buses should come next week, once the Orange Line is scheduled to be open again for riders.
