A group of 60 Athens elementary school students along with their chaperones were left stranded Wednesday morning when the charter buses they arranged for transportation did not show up for a three-day trip to Tybee Island.
The transportation department for the Clarke County School System, however, provided two school buses and despite a late start the Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary students made it to their destination, according to school spokeswoman Anisa Jimenez.
The debacle has upset some people including Jay Nackashi, a father of one student who took time off from work to help chaperone the trip.
“We wasted half a day of the school trip. There was a lot of hectic changing of plans this morning,” Nackashi said by phone Wednesday afternoon as the buses approached Savannah.
The school already paid $5,232 to Hargrave Motor Coach and owned by Keith Hargrave, Nackashi said. The company’s website shows the business is based in Watkinsville, while its Facebook page describes itself as a Christian-run business that specializes with youth group, churches and senior citizens.
School officials were perplexed by the unexpected turn of events.
On Tuesday “Hargrave Motor Coach called and confirmed the trip,” Jimenez said.
“Our students were scheduled to leave at 6:30 in the morning and this put us in a very difficult situation, but our transportation department really pulled through and we were able to take the students and leave today at 10 o’clock,” she said.
The school’s principal, Scarlett Dunne, called Hargrave because the buses never arrived.
Dunne was told that Hargrave Motor Coach was sold about five months ago and that the new owners were going out of business, Jimenez said.
“They said they didn’t have any drivers and in fact they had been out of business since December,” she said, adding the new owner is also listed as Hargrave Motor Coach.
A call to Hargrave Motor Coach by Onlineathens.com was answered by a taped message by an unidentified man explaining the owner was having a medical issue and would not be available until Sunday.
Nackashi was upset by the actions of the company.
“Each student had saved money for months. Some of the kids don’t have much money in the first place. It’s a Title One school,” he said about the trip which has become an annual trip for fifth-graders now for seven years.
Nachaski said he and his son arrived at the school about 6 a.m. for a planned departure of about 6:30 a.m., but the buses were not there.
“Basically we heard they are not coming,” he said.
The principal arrived along with School District Superintendent Philip Lanoue, and an alternate plan was made so the trip was not cancelled, Nackashi said.
As for the money paid for the buses, Jimenez said “we are looking into dealing with that right now.”
However, Nackashi said he was present when Dunne contacted Hargrave.
“She was stern and professional and told him the $5,000 needed to be reimbursed to the school in 24 hours,” Nackashi said adding that Hargrave “said he couldn’t’ do that and she gave him 36 hours.”