District 99 Pressing Westway for Permanent Drivers on Routes

Update: 5:10 p.m.

District 99 identified a major problem in its bus service Wednesday, the district reported in an e-mail release. 

Bus routes have not been driven by the same drivers day-to-day, meaning a lack of consistency.

"We believe that we have identified a major problem with our service, namely that the company does not have permanent drivers in place for all or most routes," the release said.

"We are pressing Westway Coach to correct this problem immediately."

District 99 officials will again ride on the most troubled bus routes. Doing so had a positive effect Tuesday, though not all of the route problems were solved.

“Westway Coach is well aware that we are beyond frustrated with their abysmal service to our students,” District 99 Superintendent Mark McDonald said in the release.

“We have been assured that drivers will be appointed to a permanent route as soon as possible, so that we can begin to build consistency into each route--and build trust back into our relationship with the bus company.”

Students have been told there have been no changes made in their routes and they must abide by their original pick-up and drop-off information.

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Missed pick-ups and late buses continued on Tuesday for District 99 students, according to Jill Browning, communications director for the district.

Browning said the district was sorting through what still needed to be done.

"It is improved over the past couple of days," Browning said. "It's still not at the level it needs to be..We need to assess after the dust settles what the plan is."

District 99 officials rode routes that had experienced some of the most problems. Browning said more information about whether that would continue would be released Tuesday afternoon.

As of 10:37 a.m., no new routes had been released, she said, though tweaks could probably be made.

Students and families are asked to stick to their original routes.