Parent tells Mat-Su officials bus cancellations fall to parents

A parent told Mat-Su borough and school officials Tuesday that repeated school bus cancellations are forcing families to find their own way to get kids to school. She said the cancellations affect everyone, not just a few households.

The parent said she checked three Palmer day care businesses looking for a ride for students.

"I have checked with 3 local businesses that offer daycare in Palmer. None of them have a bus or a van to transport students to school," the parent said during public testimony at the joint Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly and School Board meeting.

The elementary schools she knows of offer no fallback either. "None of the elementaries that I know of have before or after school care, so this falls directly on the parents to fix."

She framed the cancellations as a pattern, not a single bad week. "We're starting our 5th year of the 10-year contract, and the past does not look good. This cannot be the new normal. This is unacceptable, and our kids deserve better," she said, adding that Durham School Services "needs to be fined or ran out of town."

The Mat-Su Borough School District approved the 10-year pupil transportation contract with Durham in 2021. Durham runs the routes from a terminal between Wasilla and Palmer.

Durham bus workers struck before ratifying a contract with Teamsters Local 959. The union and the company have described that agreement as the settlement that returned drivers to their routes and restored full service.

The available meeting excerpt included no response from the district, the Assembly or Durham.

"I don't know what the solution is. I do know that you guys are all elected officials, so please take this seriously," the parent said.