Bourbonnais schools back in session today

BOURBONNAIS — Bourbonnais Elementary students are back in class today.

District 53 announced transportation has been secured and school would be in session as scheduled.

School was canceled Thursday due to the damaging of 21 school buses in a theft of catalytic converters at the district’s bus maintenance facility along Career Center Road near Liberty Intermediate School.

In the district’s latest update, it advised families that regular bus stops and schedules would be used Friday, but some of the buses would be from other school districts.

Kankakee School District 111 officials said the district sent eight school buses for Bourbonnais Elementary to borrow.

Bourbonnais Interim Police Chief Dave Anderson said Friday morning that police were still reviewing security surveillance footage from the incident.

Investigators are looking at any possibility of local people or someone from out of the area for suspects, he said.

“We have heard of thefts like this over the last several years,” Anderson said. “A couple years ago, some other buses in the area got hit. They were just random, like one or two, but to this scale [this hasn’t happened before], at least not in our area.”

District 53 has about 24 full 77-passenger buses and transports more than 1,900 students each day, meaning about 82% of its student population relies on school bus transportation.

The District 53 statement reads:

“Please be aware that while normal bus stops and regular pick-up/drop-off times will be utilized, you may notice that many buses will have different numbers than usual and may even display a different district name on the side.

“Rest assured that our regular BESD #53 bus drivers will be driving each route, ensuring a familiar and safe experience for our students.

“Thank you for your continued patience, understanding, and support over the past day. We are incredibly grateful that the coordination of our efforts — in collaboration with neighboring districts, service providers, and suppliers — has allowed us to minimize the disruption to our students’ learning."