BOSTON – A lack of buses has forced some high school students in Boston to forfeit games and a basketball coach wants the city to find a solution.
Kevin Sinatra coaches the freshman and junior varsity teams at East Boston High School. He said they missed a recent game in Fall River because the school bus didn’t show.
‘It’s extremely frustrating’
“It’s extremely frustrating,” he told WBZ-TV on Monday. “As someone who is an alum of BPS and was a three-sport athlete, there was nothing I looked forward to more than race day.”
Sinatra practices for hours with the students and prepares for competitions. He said there’s nothing worse than getting all dressed up and waiting for a bus that doesn’t come. He told WBZ this has been happening in the district since the pandemic.
Boston schools are facing a bus shortage
“Providing safe and reliable transportation for our students to and from school, sporting events and activities is always our priority,” a Boston Public Schools spokesperson told WBZ in a statement Monday.
“Unfortunately, real-world logistics challenges can sometimes impact our ability to meet all scheduling requests for these trips, especially when they overlap with scheduled afternoon deliveries.”
Sinatra said the scheduling issues make everything more complicated for the students.
“It’s just a shame. We encourage these kids to join sports teams, participate in extracurricular activities, stay off the streets and become model citizens. It’s frustrating when as coaches we give everything, the players give everything ” he says. told WBZ.
Logan Hall
