Howard County school buses caused chaos last year. Here’s what to expect this year.

There are always hiccups in the first few weeks of school. But, in Howard County last year, the school bus fiasco felt like a case of hiccups that wouldn’t go away. Bus routes changed at the last minute. Drivers did not show. Twenty routes were canceled, leaving 2,400 students stranded. Parents wanted the superintendent gone and demanded answers from Zūm, the California tech company hired to operate nearly half the district’s bus routes. Resignations followed.