Day Two was much better than Day One.

The second day of student busing for Barrington Public Schools showed marked improvement over a very bumpy first day that included a bus getting lost and ending up in Somerset, Mass.

Bus 1, which was carrying students from Nayatt School and Hampden Meadows School, went missing for almost an hour. Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said the school bus driver took a wrong turn on County Road and ended up on Main Street in Warren.

“Once you get on Main Street, you can’t turn a bus around,” Messore said. 

The driver turned onto Child Street (Route 103) and continued heading farther away from Barrington, Messore said. Bus 1 traveled past Kickemuit Middle School in Warren and rolled into Massachusetts. 

The bus eventually stopped on a side street off Route 103 and the driver alerted the bus company, Ocean State Transit. Messore said a new driver responded to the bus and drove it back to Barrington. 

“It was driver error, but what complicated it was a lack of communication,” Messore said. 

Neither the driver nor the monitor phoned the school district to alert Barrington officials to the situation. Meanwhile, concerned parents started calling their children’s schools and the district’s central office. 

Michael Crane was one of those parents. He attended the Barrington School Committee meeting on Thursday, Aug. 31, and spoke about the incident during the public comment period. Crane said parents were left in the dark while the bus veered off route. He said fourth- and fifth-graders who were on the bus thought they were being kidnapped. The younger students — kindergartners through third-graders — were in tears. 

Crane said he was able to speak with someone at the office who said officials had tracked down the bus, but that information was a long time after children were supposed to be returned home. 

Crane said he emailed Messore but the Superintendent had still not replied. The district hired a full-time communications director last year, Crane said, but the district’s communications have not improved. 

Crane said people had received some information because one of the older students on the bus had a watch that allowed them to communicate with their parents. Crane said many nervous parents went out that night and purchased Apple Airtags and placed them in their children’s backpacks. 

Crane said he thought many kids would not want to ride the bus the next day, but they were brave and took Bus 1 back to school on Tuesday, Aug. 30. Crane asked that School Committee members look into the transportation issue and the district leadership. 

Messore said school officials took time to speak with students about the troubling bus run. He said students were reassured that something like that would not happen again. He said additional protocols are now in place to prevent similar incidents from occurring. The Superintendent said he met with Ocean State Transit officials last week and reminded them of how important it is for families to be notified when a situation arises. 

Day Two

Bus 1 had a new driver and monitor on the second day of school, Messore said. The drop-off and pick-up went smoothly, he added. 

The Superintendent said the start of the school year always includes some transportation issues, as drivers and students adjust to the schedules and other challenges. 

That point was illustrated in a few busing delay text messages sent by district officials last week. 

On Wednesday morning, officials texted that Buses 2 and 13 were running approximately 10 minutes late. “We apologize for the inconvenience.” 

There was a different text on Wednesday afternoon: “Bus 7 broke down so Bus 4 replaced Bus 7 and is leaving BMS now. Bus 12 arrived at BMS a couple minutes ago and mini-bus 3 is running late.”