HAZLE TOWNSHIP -- As students left school Wednesday afternoon, parents in the Hazelton area were wondering what time their child will walk through the door.
In an effort to save money, the Hazleton Area School District cut the number of buses going to and from school.
The school district is still having issues with picking up and dropping off hundreds of students in a timely manner. That means administrators have to come up with a new system.
"We have been working tirelessly to refine routes, adjust bus stops, adjust times to make sure out routes are accurate second efficient," said Craig Butler, superintendent of the Hazleton Area School District.
School administrators are also adding bus passes which will ensure that no child is left behind. Newswatch 16 reported a month ago that students in the Hazleton school district returned late from schools while others weren't even picked up.
"By doing that student or those students will get on a particular bus, so that they have a bus stop and a bus time," said Butler.
Newswatch 16 spoke to some parents who were less than thrilled about the situation.
"They say they understand. They say they know there's a problem, and they are working on it, but they can't get anything done," said Ian Drenann.
Drenann has three daughters who attend Drums Elementary and Middle School. Every day after getting them ready for school he sends them out to the bus not knowing when they will return. Earlier this week, his youngest didn't get home until 5 p.m.
"When I'm looking at my watch and I'm seeing that they're 45 minutes late, is it really the bus that's late or is there a problem? Has somebody snatched my child up?" said Drennan.
Hazleton Area school officials are expecting to unveil the new routes and the bus pass system within the next week.
