With the end of the first week of school in South Orange and Maplewood, parents continued to share tales of school district busing snafus, as well as frustration with a shortfall of paraprofessionals — the teachers aides who support special needs students in the classroom. On both fronts, some parents say the issues were foreseeable and the district didn’t heed their warnings.
District leaders say that they are working diligently to correct issues and called the shortfall of paras and busing delays “unacceptable.”
Transportation
Ahead of the start of school, one South Mountain Elementary/Annex parent wrote that his children’s cross-town bus from the Elmwood and Boyden avenues area of Maplewood could not make it to the Newstead neighborhood in South Orange on time, given an 18-minute start to finish travel time with multiple stops. (The timing of some of the routes was also questioned by some Board of Education members ahead of the start of school.)
The district moved the pickup time to allow more time for the route to get to the school, however it still arrived ten minutes late on the first day.
When Supt. Jason Bing thanked the parent for sharing information on the late arrival of the bus on the way home, the parent wrote, “The point is that I shouldn’t be the one telling you about these issues. You should know the bus is leaving the school so late and you should communicate that to the parents. The bus finally arrived at our stop at 3:40, which is 52 minutes late. Since Stopfinder isn’t working, that’s 52 minutes extra minutes that parents waited at the bus stop wondering where their children were.”
Bing responded, “Understood -Bel Air [the busing vendor] was not communicating with the district. Our business administrator, Sandy [Klemser], and I quickly drove over to their offices. We understand how important this situation is and that it must be resolved. We appreciate your updates.”
The parent responded, “That’s amazing. Thank you so much for doing that. I hope it leads to some good change.”
On Wednesday, the father of a Seth Boyden 2nd grader who travels on a cross-town bus, wrote to the district (copying Village Green), “Every morning, I put my son in the Transportation Department’s hands with the expectation that he will be transported safely from his bus stop to school. The lack of communication, the lack of a clear plan, and the issues with the route are unacceptable.”
RELATED: South Orange-Maplewood Starts School Short of Paraprofessionals, and with One ‘Glaring’ Busing Issue
He continued, “I understand that the first few days of school are when transportation issues and logistical kinks get worked out. However, what we are experiencing feels like a fundamentally different problem.”
In a statement to Village Green on Sept. 5, BOE President Meyer described the busing problems himself and the Board of Education’s frustration.
“The board has been very frustrated by routes that have experienced delays, no-show buses, and students not picked up or dropped off at the right stop.” wrote Meyer. “We have received feedback from many families this week regarding problems with school bus routes. While the majority of bus routes operated without major incident in this first week, we can’t claim success until all of our routes are operating well, and we are not there yet.”
Bing similarly wrote, “The beginning of any school year brings standard adjustments—students learning pick-up routines, drivers navigating new routes, and navigating local construction. However, having a bus fail to show up or arrive 45 to 60 minutes late is completely unacceptable.”
He noted that the district had identified two major bottlenecks of traffic holding up crosstown buses — on Valley Street and in South Orange Downtown — and that buses had been re-routed to avoid those areas. Bing also outlined improvements in communications and operations. Read his full update below.
Paraprofessionals
Regarding the shortfall in paraprofessionals, Bing said that the district had backfilled the positions “with temporary paraprofessional staff from other agencies and substitutes to ensure the best coverage possible” while the district continued to recruit permanent paraprofessionals.
Earlier in the week Bing reported that the district started the school year with 138 permanent paraprofessionals and 24 temporary support staff for a total of 162 positions covered out of the total of 184 needed.
At the August BOE meeting, Bing had announced that all paraprofessional positions were covered, with a “healthy excess to account for issues.” But then the district was left scrambling the weekend before school started when its new vendor, Delta-T Group, informed it of the shortfall.
The district was also having difficulty recruiting long-time paras back under the new vendor due to a reduction in the hourly wage and the fact that paras would be 1099 independent contractors versus W-2 employees. (Read more and the union’s response here.) Shortly before the school year began, Delta-T agreed to onboard the paras as W-2 employees — but many former district paras had already taken positions in other school districts.
In his update on Sept. 5, Bing wrote, “This week my staff and I have invested many hours to fix this issue. We have put pressure on the agency to redouble their recruitment efforts and meet their contractual obligations. At the same time, we have backfilled with temporary paraprofessional staff from other agencies and substitutes to ensure the best coverage possible, and have directed that recruitment to continue throughout the month. My staff has been on site at our schools to review compliance and troubleshoot issues.”
He continued, “Our efforts resulted in a significant increase in recruited paras ready for the first day of school, and more throughout the week. These paraprofessionals were carefully assigned to ensure our most critical needs were prioritized. At the same time, we have worked closely with principals and teachers to ensure that student needs are being met. I remain grateful to our special education parent community, including our partners at SEPAC, who have given us productive and candid feedback on what is working and what’s not as we work to fully staff these crucial roles.”
Read Bing’s full Sept. 5 statement on paraprofessionals below.
However, Jessica Mingus, founder of the SOMA Parent Support and Advocacy Network for IEP Families, drew comparisons to the district’s followup on transportation issues versus the paraprofessionals. She called Bing’s response to busing delays and problems “laser-focused,” and said special education parents are still seeking more accountability and transparency.
Mingus continued to echo her comments to the BOE in June, saying that special education parents and the broader community “could and should have been brought in as partners at the beginning stage of this decision…. The consequences are significant: deeply committed, skilled, and longstanding paraprofessionals are being pushed out of our classrooms; the safety and wellbeing of special education students is jeopardized; our already-strained teachers face even greater demands; and our district absorbs inevitable financial damage at the very inflection point Mr. Bing has repeatedly described as a ‘fiscal cliff.’”
In his statement shared with Village Green, BOE President Meyer called the “surprise shortage” of paraprofessionals “completely unacceptable, full stop.”
“We continue to seek information into the reason for this sudden change, and will look into all remedies available,” wrote Meyer. “Our top priority over the past few days has been to ensure that the district secures as many paraprofessional staff and substitutes as possible to meet the needs of all our students.”
“We are grateful for the herculean efforts of our teachers and principals standing in the gap this week to support our students, and the feedback we have received from special education families, as well as the SEPAC Executive Board and caregiver working groups,” wrote Meyer. “I am grateful as well for the many paraprofessionals, including some returning staff, who showed up on day one to work with our kids. I want to acknowledge the significant efforts put in this week by Superintendent Bing, Assistant Superintendent for Special Services Kathy Gesumaria, and our special education supervisors and case managers to mitigate this failure and ensure that every available support was put in place for our students. We are not yet where we need to be on these critical support staff and communication with these families, and this remains a top priority.”
“The Board’s executive committee, consisting of myself, Liz Callahan, and Malini Nayar, have been meeting with the superintendent and staff on a more-than-daily basis throughout this first week as the district works to address all of these challenges,” wrote Meyer. “Ongoing follow-up and oversight will continue to take place within Executive Committee, our standing committees, and in our next scheduled board meeting.
Meyer said that feedback from families was key to making improvements and encouraged community members to reach out to the Board of Education.
Board members’ emails can be found at https://www.somsdk12.org/board.
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Read full statements from Sept. 5, 2026, from Bing and Meyer here:
Superintendent Jason Bing
As I acknowledged earlier in the week, we started the school year with an unexpected and unacceptable shortfall in the number of paraprofessionals available from our vendor for the first day of school. My team and I worked for months to ensure a successful start of the school year for our paraprofessionals, and it is supremely frustrating to have this result despite those efforts. I recognize the stress and anxiety this situation has caused for all the impacted families. As we navigate this together, my priority is partnering with you to listen to your concerns and take immediate, meaningful action.”
“This week my staff and I have invested many hours to fix this issue. We have put pressure on the agency to redouble their recruitment efforts and meet their contractual obligations. At the same time, we have backfilled with temporary paraprofessional staff from other agencies and substitutes to ensure the best coverage possible, and have directed that recruitment to continue throughout the month. My staff has been on site at our schools to review compliance and troubleshoot issues.
Our efforts resulted in a significant increase in recruited paras ready for the first day of school, and more throughout the week. These paraprofessionals were carefully assigned to ensure our most critical needs were prioritized. At the same time, we have worked closely with principals and teachers to ensure that student needs are being met. I remain grateful to our special education parent community, including our partners at SEPAC, who have given us productive and candid feedback on what is working and what’s not as we work to fully staff these crucial roles.
Effective communication is the cornerstone of our partnership with families. Our immediate focus is streamlining our daily updates so you receive consistent, timely insights into your child’s transition during these first weeks of school. All special education families should have been contacted by their case managers as of end of day on Friday. Individual communications to the caretakers of all students who receive paraprofessional support have been going out over the course of the week and will be complete by the end of the long weekend.
The progress and successes we’ve been able to achieve this week would not have been possible without the long hours put in by Asst. Sup. Gesumaria, supervisors Christina Punturieri, Sue Ellis, and Tim Franklin and our Director of HR Tunde Adedoyin, all of our principals, and teachers. We also thank our returning paraprofessionals. Please continue to be in contact with your teachers, case managers, principals, supervisors, Ms. Gesumaria, and myself with any concerns and feedback.
Transportation:
Our transportation rollout this week has had many highs and lows. We fixed some major challenges from last year but have also experienced frustrating and unacceptable bus delays that our children should never have to endure. We have heard directly from many families and worked with them to adjust specific routes. We fully understand the impact these delays have on children and their experience of the first week of school, and family routines. Thank you to everyone who took the time to reach out.
The beginning of any school year brings standard adjustments—students learning pick-up routines, drivers navigating new routes, and navigating local construction. However, having a bus fail to show up or arrive 45 to 60 minutes late is completely unacceptable.
Through analyzing GPS data, shadowing routes, riding buses, and reviewing driver reports, we identified two primary bottlenecks: increased traffic along Valley Street and in South Orange Village, alongside ongoing communication gaps with drivers. We are now able to track bus GPS data to compare against our schedules, but still rely heavily on drivers using their radios to report road issues in real time—a protocol that was not consistently followed. Operational delays at schools, delayed aide escorts, and missed driver check-ins further compounded these issues.
We are resolutely committed to doing better, and I am highly optimistic that these ongoing issues will be resolved much faster than last school year. Over the course of last week, our team has taken aggressive action to fix these bottlenecks:
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Strategic Rerouting: We rerouted around heavily congested areas, added more buses, consolidated stops, and adjusted pick-up times to match current traffic patterns.
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Tighter Communication: We reinforced strict real-time radio check-in protocols with our drivers and transportation partners to eliminate communication gaps instantly.
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Streamlined School Operations: We streamlined on-site procedures to ensure buses and aides load and unload students without delay.
As of Friday, September 4th, we believe the vast majority of these issues have been resolved, and additional fixes will be implemented this week. We enter week two with corrected routes, stronger protocols, and a clear path forward. Thank you for your continued partnership and patience as we deliver the punctual, dependable transportation service your children deserve.
Board of Education President Will Meyer:
The Board of Education has been closely engaged with Superintendent Bing and district leadership throughout the first week of school as the district has worked to address significant challenges and ensure that all students have the support and services they need. This has included overseeing the district’s response to a troubling shortage of paraprofessionals and several poorly performing bus routes, both of which have affected students and families.
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The surprise shortage of paraprofessionals we learned about from our paraprofessional vendor this past week is completely unacceptable, full stop. We continue to seek information into the reason for this sudden change, and will look into all remedies available. Our top priority over the past few days has been to ensure that the district secures as many paraprofessional staff and substitutes as possible to meet the needs of all our students.
We are grateful for the herculean efforts of our teachers and principals standing in the gap this week to support our students, and the feedback we have received from special education families, as well as the SEPAC Executive Board and caregiver working groups. I am grateful as well for the many paraprofessionals, including some returning staff, who showed up on day one to work with our kids. I want to acknowledge the significant efforts put in this week by Superintendent Bing, Assistant Superintendent for Special Services Kathy Gesumaria, and our special education supervisors and case managers to mitigate this failure and ensure that every available support was put in place for our students. We are not yet where we need to be on these critical support staff and communication with these families, and this remains a top priority.
Transportation
We have received feedback from many families this week regarding problems with school bus routes. While the majority of bus routes operated without major incident in this first week, we can’t claim success until all of our routes are operating well, and we are not there yet. The board has been very frustrated by routes that have experienced delays, no-show buses, and students not picked up or dropped off at the right stop. Central Office staff have devoted significant hours to addressing these transportation issues, and we are grateful for the progress and successes to date in getting routes corrected and students to and from school safely, and on time. We remain optimistic that more progress will be made next week, as the district brings on additional buses, leverages bus location-tracking technology, and implements changes to our routes based on parent feedback.
The Board’s executive committee, consisting of myself, Liz Callahan, and Malini Nayar, have been meeting with the superintendent and staff on a more-than-daily basis throughout this first week as the district works to address all of these challenges. Ongoing follow-up and oversight will continue to take place within Executive Committee, our standing committees, and in our next scheduled board meeting. Parent and caregiver feedback has been critically important in helping the Board understand the issues families are experiencing, and I encourage caregivers to continue reaching out to us. Hearing directly from families helps us hold the district accountable and ensures that we remain focused on what matters most: making sure every student is supported, safe, and able to fully participate in school.
