The first week of school is off to a rocky start in Neptune Township School District after Seman Tov abruptly stopped offering school bus services to children in the area.

Parents were left to figure out how to get their children to and from school and are advised to do the same on Wednesday.

Superintendent Tami Crader is confident the issue will be resolved soon.

At 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night, she released a statement saying:

"Seman Tov Bus Company has informed us that they have resolved their issues. However they have not yet submitted to us the necessary compliance documentation as determined by our district attorney and insurance broker. We are optimistic that they will be providing that completed information tomorrow. Please follow the original transportation plan by transporting your child(ren) tomorrow September 10. As I said in an earlier communication I will send an update by the end of day tomorrow. Once again, thank you for your patience."

Some parents, like Amy Hariegel, have banded together for carpools. Her middle and high schoolers are bused from Neptune to Belmar's Saint Rose by Seman Tov.

“My school taxes are almost $12,000 and I don't even send my children to the Neptune schools,” said Hariegel. “To not get a service, and that's the only service we could get because we chose to send our children out of district, that we pay for, is very disappointing.”

Amy Hariegel has offered to help other parents get their kids to school, but she knows that isn't a viable solution.

Superintendent Crazer released the following statement earlier in the day on Tuesday:

“We recognize the hardship this creates for families, and we want to assure you that we are doing everything within our power to restore transportation services as quickly as possible. However, because school transportation contracts are governed by public bidding and procurement laws, we must maintain compliance within those regulations. These regulations are in place to ensure transparency and fairness in the use of public funds, but they can also slow down the process of securing new vendors. Currently, we have structured and disseminated a request for quotes from vendors to cover these routes, initiating emergency procurement procedures where allowable by law, and will begin a bid process to secure permanent transportation.”

Parents like Hariegel understand that the district is doing its best during this challenging time.

“I have friends whose children go to school with my children, and their kids were walking miles to their jobs today. Just to be with mom and dad to be able to get a ride home,” said Hariegel. “I know that in the state of New Jersey, we're required to take the lowest bid and Seman Tov gave us the lowest bid and so we have to take that. I don't want to place blame on the Board of Education because I know it's not them.”