Parents Upset As PGCPS Delays Start Of School Dec. 11 After Kids Already On Buses

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Numerous parents expressed unhappiness with the Prince George's County Public School System for declaring a delayed start to the school day Monday due to road conditions after students were already on board buses heading to school.

A Code Orange was issued by the school district Monday morning and posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, and on the school district's Facebook page at the same time. Parents also received a text alert.

The school district said classes would start Monday with a two-hour delay. Emergency personnel were required to work. There wouldn't be work-study transportation available and no half-day special education classes, half-day pre-kindergarten classes or half-day Early Childhood Center shifts. All field trips were canceled for Monday.

Recognizing that the school buses were already on the roads, the school district said on social media that the transportation office had already contacted the fewer than 20 buses on the road by 6 a.m. Families were to be contacted and a "hand-to-hand" drop-off would be done. Any students without a parent contact available would have to stay with the transportation office. Special education buses were instructed to drop students back off at their homes.

Facebook user Reshma Sinanan-Hill posted on the school district's Facebook page about 6:30 a.m. that the call to delay school should've been made earlier as numerous students who start school at 7 a.m. were already heading to or at their school bus stops.

Facebook user Lynn Phillips appreciated the school district thinking about everyone's safety, she wrote, but parents who leave for work early and kids who get on the bus early need earlier notifications, she said.

"This is also hard on bus drivers trying to make sure that they’re on their routes early to have no kids standing out in this mess. They matter also to keep our kids safe. They don’t want to drop them off know someone might not be there and kids don’t have keys. Please be considerate of everyone," Phillips wrote.

Parent Lorna Agnes, who wrote on Facebook that she is employed by the school district, said a number of teachers and staff members leave for their schools by 6 a.m. or earlier, including her, and the notification came too late for them.

Another Facebook user, Cheryl Curtis, wrote that she and teachers who arrive early were already sitting in their school's parking lot when they received the late start notice.

On X, user Crystal posted that her child already was on the bus when she received the text message.

"This is unacceptable and very dangerous for children that catch the bus super early," she wrote.

Even students like X user Iris posted that they were on the bus when the two-hour late start notice went out.

Patch contacted the Prince George's County Public Schools Chief Communications and Engagement Officer Tejal Patel Monday seeking comment about the situation, but has not received a response. This story will be updated when Patch hears more.