RACINE – Parents in Racine are demanding answers after a chaotic morning on Tuesday, January 23, that saw dozens of children returned to their bus stops after First Student stopped running buses during their morning runs to school due to unsafe weather conditions.
Racine Unified Schools did not cancel school RUSD Chief of Communications Stacy Tapp told Wisconsin’s Morning News that parents can use an excused absence for students if they determine it is unsafe to transport their children to school.
That was echoed in a post on the district’s Facebook, which has over 700 comments as angry parents took to the comments section to express their frustration with the lack of communication from First Student and RUSD.
Bryanna La Luz was one of those hundreds of comments. She told WTMJ her 13-year-old daughter was on the bus, minutes away from school when it abruptly turned around and began taking kids back to their bus stops.
“To not give any correspondence from First Student or RUSD is absolutely insane,” La Luz said.
La Luz called the school to check if school was canceled after her daughter texted about the bus turnaround, and was not only told that school was in session, but that the staff there was unaware of the bus company’s cancelation.
“I would like very clear communication about where my child is at all times,” she said. “And for the busing company and the school system to be on the same page. I wouldn’t think that would be too much to ask, I almost assumed that was a given.”
La Luz said she was grateful it was her middle schooler affected rather than her younger child, who attends 4K at an RUSD school.
“Had my four-year-old turned around and been left at the bus stop without my knowledge, I would absolutely be pursuing a lawsuit,” she said.
