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Councilman Street presses districts and DelDOT after missed Colonial school bus service
Summary
Councilman Street said Colonial School District failed to provide bus service to at least 11 developments over a recent two-day period, called the practice 'fundamentally unfair' and urged an after-action review with school districts and DelDOT; several council members supported further investigation and possible structural changes.
Councilman Street used council-member comments time to raise a transportation failure he said affected students in his district. He said he received reports that Colonial School District did not provide bus service to 11 developments on consecutive days and that the district did not consider alternative options such as closing schools or shifting to virtual instruction. "I'm frustrated, angry, and upset because Sunday night, I got a call... Colonial had 11 developments that they weren't going to provide bus service for yesterday," Street said.
Street said the result was some children were effectively locked out of school and that the county needs assurances this will not recur. He urged the school districts and the Delaware Department of Transportation to coordinate an after-action report and identification of vulnerable communities. "I'm gonna do more than run my mouth and... I'll keep dealing with it until the children who've been deprived get some relief," Street said.
Other council members expressed support and described the situation as part of a broader problem with inconsistent transportation service across northern New Castle County. Street suggested consolidating multiple districts into a single district to avoid uneven decisions, though he acknowledged that legislative barriers at the state level would make that difficult.
Chair said he would rebrief Councilman Street and the council and indicated follow-up would occur.
