More than 10,000 Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) students started their first week of the 2026-2027 school year without clear bus routes. With a bus tracking app cited as having system failures across the county, the mishap caused a lot of confusion and forced many parents to drive their children to school themselves.
PGCPS Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph characterized this as a “leadership failure.”
“This is about more than responding to the challenges of one week,” Joseph said in an Aug. 30 statement. “It is about building the systems, capacity and culture necessary to provide families with the reliable service they deserve.”
Keba Baldwin, former PGCPS director of transportation, resigned from the post after the first week of classes.
Now, Dr. Mark Fossett, a former chief operating officer for the school system, will serve as acting director and lead a new transportation transition team.
“We will use this moment of setback to address longstanding issues within the Transportation Department, including customer service,” Joseph said. “We will begin working to automate our telephone systems so that when a parent calls, a response is provided promptly and we can better monitor how issues are being resolved. Our ombudsman will lead this initiative. It represents phase one of a broader customer service improvement effort that is needed throughout our school district.”
“Now, our responsibility is to stabilize the system, strengthen customer service and address the underlying operational issues that contributed to the challenges we experienced during the opening of school,” Joseph continued.
Dr. Charoscar Coleman, PGCPS chief operating officer, said the primary issue —10,000 students without a bus route — has been resolved.
“Our priority this weekend was ensuring every student in the original backlog received a route,” Coleman said in a statement. “Clearing that backlog represents important progress, but our work is not finished. We will continue deploying additional personnel and monitoring transportation operations closely as we stabilize routes and respond to the normal changes that occur during the opening of school.”
‘Our Families Deserve More Than an Explanation of What Failed’
Tonya Sweat, who is running for county executive in the midterm elections this November, was disturbed by the amount of students who were left behind amid transportation issues during the opening week. Despite reassurance from the school system, Sweat is still concerned for the future of Prince George’s County Public Schools.
“I’m very disappointed that PGCPS, for the fourth year in a row, can’t get transportation correct and timely for our students,” she said. “Despite what they are telling the public, there is still a shortage of bus drivers. This is why this county needs a change in leadership, and this is why I’m running for county executive.”
Sherman Hardy, a prominent member of the Citizens for Accountability in Government Facebook group, strongly criticized the ongoing transportation issues and a lack of transparency.
“This has unfortunately become pretty standard in Prince George’s County. Every year I wait to see what color Shug [Avery] put on the walls, because somehow we continue with the same song and dance when school opens,” Hardy told The Informer. “PGCPS says the backlog has now been cleared, but that doesn’t erase the impact on thousands of families or the fact that, once again, we started our scholars off on the wrong foot.”
Hardy also noted that failures within the transportation app were not the only issues at hand.
“Our families deserve more than an explanation of what failed,” he continued. “They deserve leadership that makes sure we stop repeating the same failures every August.”
