Parents Endure Worried Night As Storm Delays Children's Return Home
AT-A-GLANCE
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The storm also left thousands of New York City students stranded on school buses, with many of them not getting home until well into the evening.
Now parents in the Belmont section of the Bronx and around the five boroughs are angry that the city didn't do more, reports CBS2's Lisa Rozner.
Stranded on school buses, the story played out for thousands of children across New York City last night. Many exhausted parents kept them home today.
The Department of Education is excusing late arrivals, but parents say there is no excuse for the nightmare their children experienced last night.
"They were crying, they were nervous, they were scared, they're worried about their parents they were hungry some hadn't eaten lunch since 12:30," said parent Jessica Flores.
Flores says she after waiting for hours for her kids to come home, she finally walked several miles to get them off their school bus.
"I saw they were stuck up on a hill, he couldn't move but I saw other civilians helping the bus driver," she said.
She was able to track its location through an app and then the group trekked home by foot, making several pit stops for food and a bathroom, until finally returning home close to midnight.
"Some kids were worried and crying, and I was kinda worried too because I don't know if we could make it home or not," said 8-year-old Analin Rodiles.
One bus driver says she didn't drop off kids until 2 a.m.
"We had a lot of travel yesterday. All the cars stuck, all the cars," she said.
One parent told CBS2 by phone her 9-year-old that attends a special education school in Greenwich, Connecticut didn't return to the Upper West Side until close to 10 p.m.
"Really don't know what to say," said Seth Jonas. "We had far worst storms."
On Friday morning, Chancellor Richard A. Carranza warned parents school bus delays continued and urged them to call 718-392-8855 for more information.
Carranza also said that while schools were open for classes, field trips using yellow school buses were canceled, as were after-school programs, adult education classes, Young Adult Borough Center and PSAL Public School Athletic League activities were canceled.
"We understand the inconvenience that canceling after school programming has caused & staff will be at all schools after hours," the Department of Education said in a tweet. "We were concerned about safety & that there would be significant delays again if we continued with regular bus service and service for afterschool."
