WASHINGTON — Instead of sitting in a classroom, 11-year-old Dante Drawsand spent another morning shooting basketball hoops outside his home in Washington.
“I like school because I get to learn new things,” he said. But Dante hasn’t made it to Palmetto Elementary in two days — not because he didn’t want to go, but because the school bus never showed up.
On Monday morning, several parents received a text message from the school stating that buses would not run Monday or Tuesday.
“Two days in a row — I’m just tired of it,” said Dante’s grandmother, Wilda Drawsand, who helps care for him. She said this isn’t the first time buses have failed to pick up students in the Washington area.
“The parents don’t have transportation,” Drawsand said. “If they’re working, they have to find someone to keep their children when they miss school.”
Parents told KATC that the school informed them the bus was down due to mechanical issues, leaving families stranded with few options to get their children to class. Dante says he’s worried about falling behind.
“If I keep missing school, I’m going to fail,” he said. “I don’t want to fail again.”
District 4 Councilwoman Mary Lavergne says the situation calls for more accountability.
“There needs to be more transparency with this bus route,” Lavergne said. “If the bus keeps breaking down, they need to get a new bus or even a used one.”
After KATC reached out to the St. Landry Parish School Board, officials said they were unaware of the problem until our call. The district later confirmed that another bus was placed on the road Tuesday afternoon to cover the route. The district also confirmed that another substitute bus driver will cover Wednesday morning bus route.
Superintendent Milton Batiste said the days students missed will be counted as excused absences.
Families say they’re grateful for the quick response — but hope it doesn’t happen again.
“You need to get your buses to work,” Dante said. “You could have backup buses or a substitute.”
The issue comes just months after the district voted to close Washington Elementary, forcing students to travel several miles away to schools such as Palmetto Elementary and Grand Prairie Elementary.
