Busing delays on the first day of school are expected. However, issues related to the opening of the current school year forced administrators in the Upper Perkiomen School District to scramble more than usual. According to Business Administrator Sandra Kassel, the opening of a new middle school created additional lags on Sept. 5.

            Last week, the school board hired a new transportation coordinator to deal with those issues. Jennifer Malone, who will earn $60,000 annually, is expected to start her new role Oct. 7, according to minutes from the board's Sept. 12 regular meeting. Malone's job duties will include communicating with concerned parents, according to board President Kerry Drake.

            The district had been relying on an employee from Coventry Transportation – the company that transports its students – to oversee all busing operations, including helping to set up new routes in preparation for the opening of the new middle school. A previous administrator recommended the arrangement as a cost-saving measure, according to Drake.

            "The bus company was doing what it needed to do," the council president said after the meeting.

            Kassel said she and Superintendent Allyn Roche dealt with a majority of the concerns on the first day of school. After the meeting, she explained that a multitude of issues on Montgomery Avenue – including an unexpectedly large number of parents picking up their children, combined with middle school walkers and the volume of student drivers leaving the high school – delayed the departure of the school buses. Kassel said the snarling of traffic at the border of Upper Hanover and Pennsburg created delays of at least 40 minutes on the buses' second loop.

            Two residents spoke about late home arrivals after school during the public comment portion of the meeting. One mother from Upper Hanover told the members her son did not get home from his elementary school until 5:20 p.m. on Sept. 5.