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(Bruce Ely / The Oregonian)

A group of Jefferson High students got stranded in a small town far from home late into the night last week when the contract bus driver who was supposed to pick them up, and that driver's backup as well, failed to show up to drive them back to Portland.

The stranding, a nightmare for the students and their parents, points to a larger problem: With record low unemployment, very few people want to drive school buses -- a job that doesn't pay well and offers irregular hours.

Although bus driver shortages are plaguing schools nationally, Portland Public Schools is frustrated that First Student, the bus company it contracts with, keeps falling short.

"The driver shortage is a big part of it and yet it's broader than that," Portland Public Schools interim Chief Operations Officer Courtney Wilton said. "Just fundamentally we need to be able to provide service to our students at a reasonable quality level, and that's not happening right now."

The company admits it screwed up, and badly. It has put the driver on leave, according to a company official.

First Student officials also apologized profusely, both to the district and to the parents who late Saturday evening had to trek nearly 60 miles to Clatskanie to pick up their children. The teens had ridden the bus more than an hour to put on a dance performance.

"I can't believe that they would leave a group of 24 students stranded in the middle of the night somewhere," said parent Michelle Puggarana. "I never have complained about anything. I've just heard other people complain and try to make change, and all year long I've heard about transportation."

With the driver shortage, the students had felt lucky to even get the bus that deserted them, Puggarana said.

"The buck stops somewhere and (Portland Public Schools) is the one paying that contract," Puggarana said. "I can't understand how they don't have a backup plan for something like this."

First Student's silence during the ordeal baffled and troubled the district as well.



Teri Brady, Portland Public Schools senior director of transportation learned the students were stuck, but couldn't reach anyone at First Student. She tried to get another contractor to rescue the teens, but ultimately, and understandably, Wilton said, parents just drove there themselves.

"It's not OK. It's not acceptable," Wilton said. "They just dropped the ball."

First Student has told the district it put the driver on leave pending an investigation and disciplined the dispatcher who didn't respond to Portland Public Schools pleas for help.

In addition, the bus company implemented new protocols, refunded the charge for the botched return trip, offered two free future trips, and gave Amazon gift cards to those who drove to pick up children, First Student manager Jeff Heaton told the district in an email.

"I know we cannot fix what happened Friday night but we are putting processes in place to ensure this does not happen again," Heaton wrote. "Again, I hope you accept my apology and see what we are doing to remedy the situation."