We, Troy parents and families, need our school buses to be on time. Our children's education, working families and our schools depend on this basic service to enable to get our kids to get to and from school and home without significant delay. It is inexcusable that buses are more than 30 minutes late -- sometimes more than one hour?! -- or that the bus never comes. Prompt buses mean our kids are safe and our families and schools able to thrive. When buses are late, children and families are left in the cold, literally and figuratively. When kids cannot get to school on time: -working families have to make accommodations, resulting in being late to work and employment conflicts -children and families are left without a means to get to school (Troy schools have a significant population that relies on public transportation; in the event of no busing to school, some families need to take a taxi to school, an unnecessary and burdensome cost to families whose children qualify for free lunches because of low wages/income) -kids are left alone, sometimes without a parent to shepherd them back home or to school; their safety is at risk! -kids may miss the window for breakfast at school, resulting in hungry, distracted and poor-performing kids -kids are late to school, resulting in missed opportunities and announcements which set the expectations for the day When kids cannot get home on time: -parents worry -children's safety is at risk! Without a way of knowing where our children really are, how can we keep our kids accountable? -kids miss/delay time for play, sleep and homework, all of which are necessary for our children to thrive Late buses are inexcusable. This problem has been happening for years, not just this school season. It applies to Troy families whose children attend public and private schools. Please address these concerns by telling us what will be done to rectify this situation, giving us a name and number of someone that we can truly talk to about our concerns (The coordinator of pupil transportation never answers her phone nor returns calls), and properly training bus drivers to prepare them for and practice their routes.