The first week of school usually reveals various speedbumps and hurdles for people to navigate, both at home and on campus. But for some Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools families, the opening days of the 2026-27 school year were especially challenging thanks to “a number of technical or communication issues” around the bus system, according to the district.
CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice issued an apology letter and social media post to families on Tuesday, acknowledging several problems that left students and parents wondering what was happening with the bus routes. Dozens of social media users left comments on Facebook and Reddit detailing their experiences — which ranged from no buses showing up, to buses showing up significantly earlier, to no one answering their calls on Monday, to only getting confirmation of the bus pick-up spot via a written note from the Transportation Office.
“I’m writing to acknowledge the frustration and lack of information that many of our families have experienced leading up to, and during, this first week of school in our district,” Trice wrote on Tuesday. “These issues include newly enforced walk zones, missing bus assignments, and perhaps most frustrating of all, the absence of timely or repeated updates about these situations.
“On behalf of CHCCS, I apologize,” he added. “This should be an exciting and welcoming start to the school year, and for some of our families, we’ve failed to create that environment.”
The superintendent identified three of the issues the district is taking steps to resolve — although some may not be immediately fixed. The first is a technical problem where some rising kindergarten, sixth grade, ninth grade, and EC students were “inadvertently unassigned” from receiving their bus transportation. Additionally, a change in how walk zones are being enforced and implemented by the bus system was not communicated by CHCCS. The stricter rules mean children within the walk zone will not receive bus service in their neighborhood, which Trice said was not shared enough times with families, especially those who moved into walk zones before the start of the new school year. Lastly, a technical issue resulted in bus information not being sent to families until Friday, August 21 — less than 72 hours before the first day of class.
“These are challenges that we can fix,” Trice’s letter said, “and we are taking the necessary steps to do that with urgency. The good news is that we have the drivers and buses to cover all of our routes.”
The district asked families experiencing any of these problems to check their bus assignment in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Going to the “Transportation” page will allow users to see if they have an assigned bus route. Anyone who sent in a request for transportation and did not receive an assignment is encouraged to contact their respective school’s data manager to confirm the request.
Trice warned that requests received this week could take roughly a week to process and have students assigned to a bus route.
“This is because while adding a student to a route is a simple process, doing so may then trigger impacts to other stops or routes, which may require additional time to coordinate and communicate to drivers and families,” said the superintendent. “Getting students to school safely and on time every day is one of our core services. Again, I am very sorry for these situations, and we will get them fixed.”
While it has not been updated with questions regarding the technical glitch impacting the start of the school year, the CHCCS district has a list of answers to frequently asked questions on its Transportation webpage.
Featured image via the Town of Chapel Hill.
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