A state review and a new wave of complaints have put Wake County Public School System’s special-education transportation back under the microscope, as families say vendor vans that were supposed to be a lifeline for their children instead became a gamble. Parents describe long pickup windows, vans that showed up hours late or not at all, and children losing chunks of class time while caregivers scrambled for last-minute rides.
State report: two students were denied IEP transportation
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Exceptional Children Division found that the district failed to provide special transportation required by students’ individualized education programs and said corrective action was necessary. According to a final report by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, investigators substantiated violations for specific students and ordered the district to take steps to make affected families whole.
Records show thousands of parent complaints
A public-records review reported by WUNC News shows the district logged more than 16,000 complaints about special-education vendor transportation from Aug. 1, 2020, through March 18, 2026. That tally included more than 5,300 vendor no-shows. Parents told WUNC vans sometimes arrived within a two-hour window, canceled mid-route, or pulled away without students, leaving caregivers to miss work or scramble for backup transportation…