BUFFALO, N.Y. — The school bus shortage continues to affect districts nationwide — and that includes in Buffalo.

"Right now, since the start of the school year, we had a low of 750 kids who were picked up late or not at all, to a high of almost 3,000 kids that were picked up late or not at all," said Sam Radford, We The Parents Of WNY co-chair and Buffalo Equity Coalition member.

Radford calls those numbers unacceptable. He's on the Operation Sunrise Transportation Committee in addition to being the co-chair of the group We The Parents Of WNY. The committee is working on getting all students in Buffalo Public Schools to class on time, and one of their recommendations is varied start times for schools.

Radford says currently the bell times are at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., and the committee has recommended moving bell times to 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.

"That bus route that runs the route at 7:30 could be finished with its route and then go do another route at 9:30, and that would give us well over a hundred extra buses and it would essentially solve the problem," Radford said.

He says having the three bell times would solve another problem, too.

"Right now we have over 50 kids on a bus, buses are doubled up and 35% of them do not have bus aides, so it's unsafe," said Radford.

With more buses, he says that would decrease the number of kids per bus and make it safer.

In a statement, Louis Petrucci, the president of the Buffalo Board of Education, said in part:

"With respect to the proposed change from two bell times or school start times to three bell times, there are presently ongoing discussions with the Buffalo Teachers Federation as teachers have a voice per their contract as to when their school day begins.”

Phil Rumore, president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation, says the increased number of bell times could be problematic for students.

"In that now it means kids can get home 40 minutes later than they do now, have to get up earlier and be outside earlier 20 minutes or 10 minutes earlier when it's dark," said Rumore.

Rumore says members of the teachers union received a memorandum of understanding, or a formal agreement to change their contract, from the district on Sept. 1, but the specifics are unclear.

"First of all, it comes so late, you know, this is going to affect people's child care,” said Rumore. “I've gotten calls from parents that said, ‘how am I supposed to change my child care now? It'll cost me money to change it.’"

He says teachers' child care would also be impacted.

In his statement, Petrucci also said in part:

"While this would give us enough drivers for all of our routes, which is of particular concern before the weather changes, it has the potential to create challenges for our BPS families...such as if a later start time does not correspond with a parent’s work time and the child(ren) would need someone to watch them and get them on the bus, after school activities, etc. The district is aware of these concerns and has been actively addressing them."