According to school officials, someone tampered with the tire stems of 58 of the district's 70 school buses overnight at the bus barn, flattening those tires. Buses were unable to head out to pick up kids for school, leaving about 2,500 students without a ride to class.
A district-wide message was sent out to parents, stating they should try to get their children to school the best they can.
"Luckily for us, the stems were cut, which is a little easier process to repair," said Crosby ISD Superintendent Keith Miller.
They believe someone sliced through a chain link fence at the bus barn and hacked away. So 2,500 -- or half of the district's student body -- stood at bus stops, just waiting.
"We were going to school and it started raining extremely hard. My sister and I we were scared so we went back to the house," said fifth-grader Jaydon Kochevar.
But their buses never came.
"He went to a neighbor and asked why the buses weren't running and she said that all of the tires had been slashed," said parent Janet Butterton. "There was no transportation for the students."
Angry parents had to halt, back-track and re-route after getting automated calls about the hoax.
"I think that's a costly prank and pranks are getting out of hand," said grandparent Debra Tarver.
Whether it's an April fool or just foolish fun, no one is laughing.
"It's not that funny," Miller said. "It's going to cost us some money and some instructional time for our kids."
Almost all of the buses have been repaired by emergency stem valves sent over by HISD, so transportation should be back to normal this afternoon.
Officials are reviewing surveillance video. An investigation is underway.
