A Dunedin teenager says he has been left off the school bus due to overcrowding.
Now Chris Signorile is in trouble at school because he's been late so many times since he has to walk three miles to school. He said he expected a lot of challenges as a freshman in high school, but he never thought that trying to catch the bus to school would be one of them.
Signorile says several times this year he and some of his classmates at Dunedin High School have been denied access to their school bus when it arrives to pick them up because there were no seats left.
"Sometimes they're saying, 'No more students,' " he said. "A couple kids will have to go home and ask for rides from their parents."
Signorile said there have been several instances where he and other students have been left at the bus stop. The most recent incident happened last week during the coldest day of the season.
"Everyone tried to get on the bus," he said. "Everyone was pushing and shoving. I was gonna be a nice guy and just let everyone on, and then she says, 'No more students,' and me and like two other kids had to go home
But in a written statement, Pinellas County school officials refute the claims.
"The Transportation Department review of this report indicates no students have been denied transportation due to crowding issues," the statement said in the statement. "The bus has capacity for 65 students and has been running most days with approximately 40-50 students."
Signorile's mother, Erin Latham, said she doesn't buy it.
"The bus company said that if he was late because it was their fault, it wouldn't count against him," she said. "But it doesn't change the fact that he's be tardy or missed first period five times."
However, starting Wednesday, school officials have moved one of the bus stops to another route to ensure that there's no overcrowding.
Officials said that on Tuesday they will look at surveillance video from that bus to determine whether students were denied access.