Collier charter school students, parents unhappy over hot school bus

Some students in Collier County that take a school bus have encountered scorching temperatures due to a broken air conditioner.

“I have to drink a lot of water,” Addison Corbellini said, a sixth grader.

“I feel sweaty and hot and I feel weak and tired,” Sophia Perilli said, a fifth grader.

Many parents have complained to A&S Transportation, the contracted company who owns the buses that drives the children back-and-forth from charter schools, about the dismal conditions their kids are facing daily.

“I’m pissed off because my kids have a cough now because of this intense heat that’s on the bus,” Yvette Acosta, a mother. “I don’t want my kids ending up sick because they’re supposed to have air-conditioning on the bus and they don’t have it.”

During an exchange between the privately owned Naples school bus company and a parent, it said they only have one mechanic for its 300-vehicle fleet.

The parents who have contacted the company feel their complaints are not being heard.

“They’re rude,” Acosta said. “They won’t even let you talk to a manager.”

Josephine Perilli, a parent, claims the air conditioning has been broken for two months.

Her daughter has expressed worries about her safety because the bus driver is constantly wiping sweat from his face, impeding his concentration on the road.

“If you get on that bus, it’s a steam box,” Perilli said. “We’re not going to stand for it.”