After weeks of late BPS buses and frustration over communications from the district, City Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy took their concerns to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“I’m asking for DESE’s support in addressing critical transportation failures,” said Murphy Tuesday at the BESE meeting. “We need a thorough investigation into the root causes of these delays, a comprehensive action plan with clear timelines, improved communication with families, and a robust monitoring system to ensure accountability. These transportations not only disrupt learning, but also jeopardize educational progress.”

The councilors’ concerns come after the district has struggled to get buses to school on time in the first weeks of school, which district officials have publicly attributed to a “learning curve” for new GPS technology through the Zum app and a higher rate of last minute enrollments and route changes.

Only about a third of buses made it to school on time on the first day of school, according to BPS data, down from 62% the previous year. In a deal with the state, Boston agreed to reach 95% on-time performance.

Though bus on-time performance has improved, Flynn said his office has continued to see outreach on issues that “have continued to plague parents well into last week.”

Flynn cited a number of families’ stories, including one in which a parent from Roxbury had to pick up her daughter up from a Chinatown school at 7 p.m., three hours after her bus was supposed to drop her at home.

Another South Boston parent, Flynn said, watched the new Zum app for 45 minutes before it became unavailable and she drove her child to school. On the way back the child’s bus took over two hours, and they had to provide the driver directions, he said.

“There is no consistency and reliability with school bus arrival time, which has created a lot of stress and frustration for working parents,” Flynn said.

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BPS responses to council requests for information have been “disheartening,” Murphy said. Despite requesting a BPS officials attend a hearing on Sept. 27, with more than a week’s notice, she added, the district replied they could not attend until Oct. 29.

Murphy called for state intervention to “work towards a solution that guarantees a safe and reliable transportation for every student.”