School buses transported Howard County Public Schools students on the first day of classes for the 2024-2025 school year on Monday without widespread delays or cancellations, a far cry from what was described as a system failure on the first day of school last year.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Superintendent Bill Barnes and Board of Education Chair Jennifer Swickard Mallo delivered remarks and welcomed students back to school at Wilde Lake High, at 7 a.m., Monday.

Contingency plans are in place to ensure that student transportation runs smoothly this year, Barnes said.

“I really have to commend our local contractors and our transportation team who have worked to turn this story around,” Barnes said. The county schools’ communication system is also ready to inform families about any changes, he added.

Patuxent Valley Middle School’s bus 451 ran 45 minutes late and Forest Ridge Elementary School’s bus 233206 may have been delayed, according to email alerts from the school system.

The closure of Hesperus Drive, near Longfellow Elementary School, caused by a water main break, likely caused transportation delays for the school on Monday. No other emails were sent to notify families of delayed buses.

The beginning of the 2023-2024 school year was plagued with transportation challenges. On Aug. 29, 2023, the second day of school, Zum Services canceled 20 bus routes it was contracted to service, with 54 runs, leaving more than 2,400 students at 34 elementary, middle and high schools without transportation for as long as two weeks in some cases.

Zum Services is a California-based bus company that contracted with Howard schools for the first time last year and was charged with providing transportation on more of the county’s 503 routes than any other bus contractor.

“We are aligned with Superintendent Barnes’ student transportation priorities for the 2024-2025 school year, and have been working closely with the Howard County Public School System team to ensure those priorities are met,” Zum spokesperson Jenny Mayfield said in a statement Wednesday.

Barnes said earlier this month that this year will be different because contractors completed supervised dry runs of routes, and because the school start times in place, implemented to help remedy last year’s transportation situation, will reliably accommodate the busing schedule. The superintendent said he also meets weekly with the transportation office, set expectations for Zum Services, and has been treating transportation as a priority.

Two bus numbers were changed for Patuxent Valley Middle, one at Hammond Middle, one at Gorman Crossing and one at Pointers Run Elementary schools, according to email alerts.

The system had more than 100 surplus drivers last week for its fleet of more than 500 buses. Barnes said having ample drivers on standby addresses inevitable callouts.

Ball praised the school board and system staff for their preparation and hiring efforts.

“We are prepared and we’re going to start this school year off right for our students,” Ball said.

Mallo said the system has ensured that every bus driver and assistant has received adequate training.

“We signed new contracts with some of our vendors to provide athletics, afterschool activities, field trips, making sure that any of the bigger gaps that were there midway through the year are now filled,” Mallo said, “as well as making sure that expectations are the same for both our contractors, our bus drivers and our central office staff.”