Prince George’s County schools face major bus routing issues

Approximately 10,000 students in Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland faced significant transportation challenges during the first days of the school year. Many students were left without assigned bus routes, forcing parents and caregivers to find alternative transportation at the last minute.

In addition to route assignments, the school system’s “Chipmunk” application, used by parents to track bus locations, experienced frequent technical failures. Parents reported that the app crashed or displayed inaccurate information, such as buses not reporting their location or showing incorrect positions.

School officials stated that while most of the 74,000 students who rely on bus services did not encounter issues, they are working to ensure all students receive assigned routes and to reinforce vehicle tracking systems. Superintendent Shawn Joseph expressed confidence that the situation would improve, though parents have continued to report inconsistent functionality with the tracking app on social media.