AUBURN — One outer Auburn school bus run has been plagued by problems this school year, including broken or late buses and the repeated need for substitute drivers.

It culminated Friday with some students waiting in the rain for a bus that didn’t show for half an hour.

“I’ve had just about enough of it,” said John Hutchinson, whose 16-year-old son waited on the side of Route 4 for 30 minutes before dawn Friday. “We need to do something.”

Auburn Superintendent Katy Grondin said the bus route’s troubles had been getting better until this week. Friday’s situation involved a substitute bus driver who misunderstood the route’s start time.

“That will all be cleared up for Monday,” she said.

The Bus 23 route, which picks up middle- and high-schoolers around Route 4 and Turner Street between 6:30 and 7:10 a.m., has had problems since school started almost two months ago. The bus has experienced mechanical problems, making it or its replacement late to pick up students. The driver has been out for medical reasons, requiring substitute drivers — some of whom don’t know the route well.

“When it rains it pours on a particular route,” Grondin said.

Hutchinson and his wife, Marcy, said their son walks about a quarter of a mile to get to his stop and has been left waiting there between 15 and 25 minutes multiple times, and 30 minutes a handful of times since the start of the school year seven weeks ago.

“There’s been 10 to 20 times the bus has been running late,” Marcy Hutchinson said.

For the Hutchinsons, the problem is not just the wait but also the fact their son is spending all that time on the edge of a busy road well-known for cars traveling at highway speeds and getting into accidents.     

“Route 4 is a death trap,” John Hutchinson said.

The couple said they have called the bus company repeatedly to complain but the bus continues to be late.

Bus 23 also picks up children for the East Auburn Community School later in the morning. Principal Sue Dorris said the bus issues usually get fixed by the time it’s time for her students to get to the bus stop.

Although the bus is usually on time, she said, students this week arrived five or 10 minutes late some days because of mechanical and substitute driver issues.

“This has been a tough week for Bus 23,” she said.

This is the first school year that Ledgemere, a subsidiary of Student Transportation of America, has been providing bus service for Auburn. The school system began contracting with the bus company July 1.

A local representative for Ledgemere said company policy prevented her from commenting on the situation.

Grondin said school system officials speak regularly with the bus company.

“I’m very happy with the responses,” she said. “There’s been things that they’ve had new — learning the community, learning the runs — that they’ve had to work through and they’ve been responsive in giving us extra people to help with that.

“They’re trying really hard and obviously we want things to go well,” she added. “That obviously is very important to us.” 

Grondin is confident the problems with Bus 23 will be resolved.

Marcy Hutchinson had one response when she learned of the superintendent’s assertion that the bus will be on time Monday.

“I hope so,” she said.

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