Norwich — The typical school bus issues that occur at the start of a school year — late buses, confused students and new drivers, deliveries to the wrong school — have been compounded in Norwich this year by major changes to the school system and bus routes, Superintendent Abby Dolliver said Tuesday.

Dolliver has received complaints about exceptionally long rides, late arrivals at school in the morning and very late return trips home.

Drivers have picked up some students who weren't on their lists rather than let them remain waiting at bus stops for unpredictable times.

That in turn, may have made those buses late or caused students to be delivered to a different school. A couple of times, kids weren't picked up at all, Dolliver said.

“The problems we have must be solved,” Dolliver said following a meeting Tuesday afternoon with officials from First Student Norwich, the city school system's bus company. “Originally, I said to give us two weeks to iron things out, but on day two, I said 'we have to fix this.'”

Norwich made two major changes this year, converting Teachers' Memorial School to a sixth-grade academy for all city sixth-graders, and sending all seventh- and eighth-graders to Kelly Middle School.

Over the past two years, two elementary schools were converted to intra-district magnet schools — John Moriarty School for health and environmental science and Wequonnoc School for performing arts — meaning some students from other traditional neighborhood elementary school districts were shifted to those schools.

Twice already since school started last Wednesday, Dolliver sent text messages to parents to inform them that school officials are working on the bus issues and “to have patience.”

She added some positive messages that classrooms she has visited have been lively with learning and that schools were keeping watch on students during the high temperatures this week.

On Monday, Dolliver stopped at a few bus stops in the Washington Street-Greene Avenue area to talk to parents about bus experiences in that neighborhood.

It turned out the exacerbated problems did not affect those routes, Dolliver said.

After Tuesday's meeting with First Student Norwich manager Kelly Dixon, Dolliver said school and bus company officials will work together to take head counts of students on each bus and to monitor arrival and departure times compared to the start time and dismissal time of each school.

Some 200 new students have enrolled in city schools this year, so officials have to make sure they are picked up. Likewise, drivers shouldn't be stopping at homes where students have left the school system, Dolliver said.

Dixon was not available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday