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Donegal Society supports local charities

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Compassionate Care Hospice’s staff at The Salvation Army

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Parents and school district officials dispute the details of an incident on Monday that, parents say, left approximately 100 students stranded outside in below-freezing temperatures.Sandra Harvard, 45, is a parent of a student at Mackin Elementary School. Harvard learned from a phone call from her daughter that only so many buses were sent to the school. After they filled, she said, students were turned away by the drivers.Her daughter was among the students reportedly left stranded and had to walk to her grandmothers&#8217; house a few blocks away from the school. Harvard said that during the call, her daughter said she was crying and cold from the walk.When Harvard drove to see the scene for herself, she said that approximately 100 kids were standing outside for about 20 minutes.&#8220;They left these kids stand outside,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They didn&#8217;t tell them what was going on &#8230; nothing.&#8221;Grades nine and 10 of Coughlin have moved into the newly renovated Mackin Elementary building while students in higher grades will be confined to the newer annex of the old school. The move was made due to structural concerns of the older parts of the building.Another parent, who declined to be identified, gave a similar account of what happened. He said that his daughter also had to walk to a nearby relative&#8217;s home due to being turned away from a bus.Brian Costello, director of curriculum and instruction for Wilkes-Barre Area School District, gave a different account.Costello explained that approximately 10 students that arrived at Coughlin High School from Mackin missed the bus. He was unaware of any major issues with new transition.&#8220;From what I understand, it was a very smooth day today,&#8221; Costello said.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Travis Kellartkellar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div>

Parents, school officials dispute bus hiccup that reportedly left kids out in the cold