Overview
- PGCPS says it assigned the roughly 10,000 students left without bus routes at the start of the school year, but officials acknowledge many routes remain wrong and some students face rides as long as four hours.
- Superintendent Shawn Joseph apologized at a Wednesday night telephone town hall and described the breakdown as a leadership failure while urging faster fixes for families.
- Transportation director Keba Baldwin stepped down and former COO Mark Fossett is serving as acting transportation director leading a 27-member surge and transition team to stabilize service and customer support.
- The district is working with the Chipmunk app vendor to repair tracking and routing problems and the Maryland State Department of Education has directed PGCPS to audit the Chipmunk system.
- An internal probe found evidence of bullying, discrimination and harassment in the transportation office, and PGCPS has opened Bushelp@pgcps.org plus an automated phone channel as short-term steps while route and staffing fixes continue over several weeks.