MIDDLETON, Idaho (KBOI) -- Students who ride the bus in Middleton say there's not enough room on the bus.They've had to sit on other student's laps and some say they've even had to sit in the aisles on the floor.
It's gotten so bad, that the Middleton Police Department has issued the bus company a citation.
"Quite frankly in my career in over three decades I've never seen that citation issued before," said police chief Brian Zimmerman.
Idaho law states there should only be three students per seat on a school bus. But students, KBOI 2news talked with, say that's definitely not the case.
"It's kind of annoying because sometimes I have my football pads and everything and I can't fit them on the bus because there is so many kids," said Zayne Wright, a Middleton student. "My mom has to take me and it's kind of an inconvenience for her."
Another student, Jace Rogers agrees.
"There's people sitting on people's laps and their just sitting on the aisles, it's just ridiculous," he said.
The first call from a concerned parent came in two weeks ago. And the Middleton bus company was warned it needed to fix the problem. But calls from parents Wednesday night and Thursday morning report that some students still found themselves without seats so the company was cited by police for the violation.
"I know that they are diligently shuffling," said Dr. Richard Bauscher, Middleton School District superintendent. "We sent out a text on their behalf saying another bus route had been added in the Mill Creek area where they were overloaded."
Parents aren't too happy about the situation.
"One bus route? OK, it's not a matter of a bus route," said Jay Arehart, a local parent. "It's a matter of buses. You can add as many bus routes as you want but if you don't have buses to handle the population or to even pick up the extra route... you're not going to be able to solve the problem."
Bauscher said the overcrowding stems from having 150 new students move into the area.
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