Prince George’s County’s special education summer program marred by transportation chaos

Anthony Tilghman’s daughter didn’t make it to the first day of summer school. The bus never showed up.

The 4-year-old is enrolled in Prince George’s County Public Schools’ extended school year program for special education students. The program, which started Monday and serves more than 4,000 kids, is a free, four-week session designed to help students meet individual education goals. Students are promised breakfast, lunch and transportation to and from their assigned school.

This week, several students missed buses or waited for hours for pickups and drop-offs, their parents said. Parents also raised concerns about a lack of communication and technical problems with the bus-tracking mobile app.

Tilghman, who runs a popular Prince George’s County education Facebook group, said he called the transportation line several times but received no answer. The app the district is using to track school buses, called Chipmunk, isn’t working, he said.

“That’s what we are depending on to get her to school, but now we have to change our schedules to take her to school ... every day,” Tilghman said.

PGCPS Transportation Services officials sent an apology to families Tuesday promising to improve the transportation and communication.

“We want to begin by sincerely apologizing for the transportation issues many of our families experienced this morning,” the letter said. “We know how stressful it is when a school routine doesn’t go smoothly, and we completely hear and validate your concerns. Ensuring your children get to and from the Extended School Year (ESY) program safely and reliably is our top priority, and we fell short of that standard today.”

But, on Wednesday, Shydia Warren said her son is still being dropped off late, causing him to miss therapy appointments, which she has to pay for.

“Unfortunately, today is now day three of these ongoing transportation issues, and the situation has not improved,” Warren told The Banner. “My son’s ESY program ends at 1:30 p.m., and his scheduled bus arrival time is 1:57 p.m. It is now 3:20 p.m., and he still is not home.”

Warren said she has been unable to reach anyone who can provide answers.

“What has been most frustrating is the lack of communication,” she said. “I have reached out to both his teachers and the bus company multiple times, but I have not received any response.”

The district blamed the bus delays on compressed summer schedules, reduced staffing and lack of access to communication tools typically available during the school year. But some parents told The Banner the opening day disaster is familiar. They say the district has a history of unreliable transportation and systemic failure to support special education students.

For Kristy Maddux, whose 8-year-old daughter is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair, the summer program offers her daughter’s only opportunity for enrichment and social interaction with other kids while school is out. Maddux said she understands the logistical difficulties with starting the program so soon after the end of the school year, but she emphasized that these issues happen every year.

“These are lovely people working hard in just a really broken system,” she said.

Many families were left in the dark about details until the last minute, according to Maddux. And on Tuesday, she estimated, her daughter sat on the bus for an hour and 40 minutes, causing her to be late for the 7:30 a.m. start.

She said the bus was late to pick her up at the end of the first day of class, too, so she got home two hours after dismissal. “We’re on track for about the same thing today,” Maddux said Tuesday.

Other parents have told her to keep her expectations low, Maddux said. She said it has been challenging to navigate PGCPS with a special needs child.

“Special ed is just an absolute mess in Prince George’s County,” Maddux said. “And it’s unconscionable.”

Tilghman sent a formal letter to the superintendent and school board relaying the exhaustion he sees other parents expressing in his Facebook group.

“My daughter starts Extended School Year this week, and like many families, we’re still dealing with uncertainty,” Tilghman wrote. “Unfortunately, this isn’t just an ESY issue. Transportation has been a challenge throughout the school year, with late buses, missed pickups, route changes and inconsistent communication becoming far too common.”

Superintendent Shawn Joseph wrote back to Tilghman, thanking him for his advocacy.

“We appreciate your feedback and recognize the importance of reliable transportation and timely communication, particularly for our students receiving special education services.” Joseph wrote in an email to Tilghman. “We remain committed to identifying solutions and improving the transportation experience for our families.”

In a statement to The Banner, PGCPS said it is aware of the transportation and communication challenges.

“Our top priority is ensuring students get to and from the ESY program safely and reliably, and we have taken immediate steps to prevent these issues from happening again,” said Lynn McCawley, senior public information specialist for PGCPS.

McCawley said the district updated its communications channels and is directing parents to the Chipmunk app to view transportation assignments and track bus routes in real time. Extended school year coordinators have direct access to bus information and are available to assist families, she said.

On Tuesday evening, the PGCPS transportation department sent an email to families notifying them that “Chipmunk is fully operational again.”

But come Wednesday morning Tilghman still had to take his daughter to school, he told The Banner in an email: “The app still doesn’t work.”

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