LEWISTON – While hearing a report that 14 out of 42 school buses didn’t start or froze up Feb. 24 because of fuel not suited for the cold, the Lewiston School Committee heard from emotional parents about students left out in the dangerous cold that morning.

They also heard from angry bus drivers who said the fault didn’t lie with the bus company, but with the city for providing fuel not adequate for the weather.

The School Committee is working on a plan to ensure what happened never happens again, how to improve communication to parents, and whether buses should be equipped with GPS devices.

On Feb. 24, it was 17 to 13 degrees below zero, the coldest morning of the winter.

Parent Kristen Beaudoin said her daughter takes the bus to McMahon Elementary. She didn’t find out until 8:25 a.m. the buses weren’t running.

“I was already at work. I don’t understand what the delay was in me getting a phone call when eight out of nine buses that go to McMahon were affected,” she said. “That concerns me.”

While Superintendent Bill Webster warned parents with tweets and on Facebook, Beaudoin said that method didn’t work for her. “My employer does not pay me to be on Facebook or Twitter.”

Her husband heard about bus problems from a neighbor and drove their daughter to school. Neighborhood children were outside in the cold waiting for the bus after their parents had left for work, Beaudoin said.

“My husband had to tell them – he had a truck and couldn’t bring them – to go back to the house. They don’t have cellphones to tell them the bus was late,” she said.

Parent Charlotte Morin said she could drive her children to school since her work starts later, but many parents can’t, they have to leave for work. “There are so many children out there alone,” she said.

“One of my friends said her kids were out there 40 minutes,” Morin said. ” I think there should be some kind of protocol just like a snow day.”

Parent Janet Beaudoin asked for a delayed start to classes during extreme cold.

Hudson Bus Line Inc. manager Peter Ouellette said the reason why so many buses didn’t start or froze up had to do with the diesel fuel that wasn’t fit for the extreme cold.

Hudson is contracted by the Lewiston School Department to provide bus service to students. Buses run on diesel fuel, which has wax in it to lubricate engines, Ouellette said.

On Feb. 24, the fuel Hudson received was rated for 7 degrees and above. During colder temperatures the lubricant in the fuel “forms a solid block,” Ouellette said. “Going out of the box that morning, we started vehicles. Most started. But as the morning progressed, some froze up.”

Ouellette said Hudson thought the fuel they received from the city was a winter blend, or had an additive to prevent freezing. The fuel did not, he said.

“We’ve never had this issue before,” Ouellette said.

In the future, Hudson will automatically use fuel additives in buses when it’s close to zero degrees, Ouellette said. Hudson will also routinely test fuel.

School Committee Chairman Jim Handy said the safety of students is paramount. With taxpayers in mind, Handy asked Ouellette if Hudson Bus Line was prepared to make financial restitution “for a 30 percent failure rate” that morning.

Two bus drivers protested.

“You sitting here and say, ‘We thank the parents.’ How about us as bus drivers right here in this room who put our life on the road every day?” said Roland Jones, a school bus driver for Northeast Charter. Northeast provides busing for the Auburn School Department.

“Driving a school bus is a hard job. You don’t understand what we do every day out there in the snow, the rain, sleet, fog,” Jones said. “You’ve got to thank the bus drivers too, not just the parents.”

At that Handy thanked bus drivers, crediting them for their dedication.

But the committee has a financial responsibility to taxpayers, Handy said. “If the contract isn’t followed through it’s well within their right to ask somebody to be accountable.”

Hudson bus driver Paul Parquette fired back. Saying he’s a taxpayer of Lewiston, the responsibility falls on the city of Lewiston.

“As we heard tonight, the problem that day wasn’t the buses weren’t in running condition, it was the fuel in the buses. So, you should be contacting the people buying and selling the fuel to find out why that happened. The responsibility certainly should not fall upon Hudson Bus Line. We just use what the city supplies us.”

bwashuk@sunmediagroup.net