Second grader Vivianna Rozinski jumps into her mom Jennifer Rozinski’s arms after getting off the bus Wednesday on the west side of South Bend. Parents say transportation problems continue to plague the South Bend district. Tribune Photo/MICHAEL CATERINA
SOUTH BEND — Having five kids who attend three different schools can be a hassle for any parent, but when there are busing problems involved, one South Bend mom says, frustration over her kids’ transportation to and from school has become the daily norm.
Jennifer Rozinski is the mother of a second-grader at Muessel Elementary School, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at Dickinson Intermediate Fine Arts Academy and a sophomore at Clay High School.
“It’s been horrible every day,” Rozinski said. “You never know what you are going to get with these buses.”
Rozinski, who moved to the city and enrolled her kids in South Bend schools last year, said there has been little consistency with her children’s school buses.
So far this school year, the buses have picked up the kids later than scheduled or arrived too early, dropped them off at the opposite block from where they’re supposed to be or failed to show up altogether — all trends South Bend families have said they’ve experienced with a district that has had transportation problems for years.
“The first day of school for my Clay student, his bus didn’t show in the morning or after school to pick him up. He called us at 5 p.m. needing a ride,” Rozinski said.
The working mother said she has repeatedly voiced her concerns to South Bend Community School Corp.’s transportation department. Often, when she’s dialed the department’s call center for answers, she said, she’s left in the dark.
“The second day I tried calling I was left waiting over 45 minutes,” she said. “Got someone who couldn’t find my kids in the bus system then was hung up on. Called back only to be left waiting for 25 minutes. … They never apologized or gave a reason for anything.”
The transportation department currently offers the “MyStop” tracking program, which can be accessed through an app or the corporation’s website. The GPS system was launched by the district in 2014.
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