District reports bus safety incidents and penalties for Durham

What happened

On September 14, the superintendent reported 19 transportation incidents and about $14,000 in contract penalties as of September 9. He acknowledged that a child had been released from a bus without a parent present and said this was unacceptable. A parent also described failures to follow release rules.

Why it matters to families

Families rely on bus staff to follow safe hand-off rules. In October, the district said meetings with Durham were continuing, but it gave no new incident total or confirmed resolution of the reported release problem.

The evidence

The September 14 recording contains the superintendent’s incident and penalty figures and the parent’s account. The October 13 recording describes ongoing monthly work with Durham. The figures are district reports; the parent’s additional claims are not independent findings. The bus budget also covers contractual increases and required routes, so its growth alone does not measure service quality.

The source