Students in the Schenectady City School District will have bus rides home this afternoon after a vandalism incident forced the district to cancel bus service this morning.
The "severe" vandalism affected an "entire fleet" of buses owned by the contracting company Durham.
A spokesperson for Durham said that 45 buses were vandalized, which included "broken windows, reflectors, and mirrors." The cost of the damage is still being calculated.
"This is a troubling and rare incident, but we are grateful no one was hurt," the Durham spokesperson said in a statement. "We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the patience and understanding of our Schenectady student riders and their families."
The company is bringing in buses from a nearby facility over the next few days, which will allow Durham "to operate a percentage" of its routes as it continues "to identify additional solutions to ensure Schenectady students have access to safe, reliable student transportation.
Schenectady Police said the incident occurred at some point over the holiday weekend and was reported to them 5:40 a.m. Tuesday. They are continuing to investigate.
Durham says it is cooperating with the investigation and has provided footage captured by exterior cameras at its facilities.
The district said in a notice that all students who normally have transportation would receive it and that all after-school activities would run as scheduled.
"Because some drivers will be covering new or adjusted routes, buses may arrive at stops a bit later than usual," the district said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "We appreciate your understanding if drop-off times are slightly delayed. Thank you once again for your patience, flexibility, and cooperation."
