By: Genevieve Rippeon

Four weeks into the 2023-2024 school year, Howard County changed school start times again. The initial change for the new school year, which pushed start times back by 35 minutes, was undone on Sept. 20. Now schools start 25 minutes later than last year. Residents of Howard County wait to see if this 10-minute difference helped solve complications from buses being late to never showing up. 

“There’s always the challenges with transportation in the beginning of the school year. No matter what the factor. Everybody’s trying to get back into routine and the adjustment of the times,” stated Mt. Hebron principal, Katie Clark. 

Before the second change, members of the Mt. Hebron community was confused amid this chaos. Students arrived halfway through the first period or were still waiting at bus stops. Pushing the times 10 minutes earlier was made in hopes of more buses getting to school on time. 

“We are seeing a real improvement. I do think a lot of it is routine. All of us trying to shift times, including having a new bus contract. It’s just once we get into the routine it’s improving,” stated Clark.

Looking for a new system, Howard County began a new bus contract with Zum Transportation based in Redwood City, California. 

“Zum was awarded the Howard County Public School System contract earlier this year in a competitive bid to provide high-quality, safe and reliable experience,” as said in a blog on the Zum website. 

On Aug. 28, the first day of school, fifteen buses arrived late at Mt. Hebron. Not only did this affect high school students but elementary and middle school students as well. The new contract with Zum caused parents to become frustrated in the first few weeks of school as their children were not getting picked up on time, if at all. 

A review for Zum on Google Reviews from Corinne Savides stated, “Today is day seven of school and my three children who were assigned a school bus driven by Zum have yet to get to school on time using the bus. On day one and day two the school bus did not show up at all without ever giving notice to us that it was not coming.” 

Despite frustrations with Zum, Howard County staff are working hard to ensure that parents understand the bus complications and that students arrive at their destinations safely.

“Ms. Mccoy and I and our administration team has called every parent because we thought that that was really important from day one that they hear from us that we are doing everything we can to ensure that everybody gets to school on time that we can control. And we are communicating with central office transportation by text, phone call, forms. We are constantly throughout the day communicating,” stated Clark. 

After a month into the school year, the system appears to be improving. Buses are arriving as scheduled. Still students feel uneasy about whether or not to trust this new change and how to adjust. This new system only solves a fraction of the complications, leaving everyone waiting for the rest of the year to play out in anticipation.