School buses out of service due to 'algae'

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- The long holiday weekend got a little bit longer for some students in a Hartford area school today. Classes were canceled this morning because of an unusual transportation problem.

According to First Student a maintenance worker discovered Diesel Fuel Algae clogging the fuel line filter of a bus in their East Hartford lot overnight.

The company says the problem could have led to the bus stopping without warning.

As a result the First Student pulled all 150 buses at the yard out of service for the day.

Fallon Daniels the assistant principal of the Pathways to Technology Magnet School in Windsor got word of the problem at the crack of dawn.

"It started out at 5 a.m. with a text message that the school was closed because CREC had a problem with transportation," said Daniels.

CREC which stands for Capitol Regional Education Council ended up canceling classes the Pathways location in Windsor.

First Student says although it brought in other buses to pick up the slack this morning the company admits there were significant delays in many locations.

In the meantime at Pathways, desks sat empty today and final exams that were scheduled for today have been pushed back until next week.

"A little bit of an inconvenience, just the fact that we had to close school on Wednesday due to the snow. Today we lost another opportunity to continue with final exams and start the semester," said Daniels.