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'I can't count on it': Parents slam Day 1 of busing contingency plan on northeast Avalon

Parents are fuming on the first day of the busing contingency plan for the northeast Avalon, and one is vowing not to put her children back on board after they waited for close to an hour in frigid temperatures for a bus that didn't show up.

"I don't trust the bus system and I will be [dropping] and picking them up," said Hazel Lewis, who has two kids who attend Holy Trinity Elementary in Torbay.

"I'm not counting on the bus service. I can't count on it."

Lewis and several parents noticed their kids were still at the bus stop at 8:50 Monday morning, when they are normally picked up around 8:15.

Then, she received an email from the school saying there was a delay, but no additional information was provided.

"It is just not acceptable. The communication is just not there," said Lewis, who doesn't fault school officials, but instead said the blame lies with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District.

Her message to the district officials: "Get the issue resolved."

School district agrees plan 'not perfect'

Terry Hall, assistant director of education with the NLESD, acknowledged the first day of the contingency plan was not perfect.

"We'd strived for perfection, yeah, but we had a couple of instances, " he said.

He said two buses ended up off the road, but cited slippery road conditions as the main factor.

Hall said some of the 54 replacement drivers are from school board–owned buses in central Newfoundland, but defended using them as part of the contingency plan.

"They are qualified drivers ... They did get a chance to practice the routes yesterday with local contractors here who are familiar with the area, took them on practice runs, let them drive the buses [Sunday] afternoon."

Hall promised a full debrief with drivers, contractors and school officials to look at what went wrong, why and how to fix it, but insisted the plan is working and it may be in place for awhile.

"It could take up to four weeks," he said. "We have a process to work through with the suspended contractor."

'Absolute precious' cargo

That's not good enough for Lewis, who will be driving her children to and from school every day until normal service resumes.

She is "very concerned" about the school busing industry in the province, and that a bad problem is only being made worse by a scarcity of information from the district.

"The thing is, these are the absolute precious of cargo," she said.

"They are our children."