vidalia &8212; School must go on, with or without transportation.

With virtually no advance notice &8212; 27 bus drivers started calling in sick at 5:30 a.m. Friday &8212; Concordia Parish schools did what they could to have class Friday.

About 10 buses did run, some regular drivers, most substitutes on district-owned buses. After children stood at bus stops well past normal pickup time, parents, neighbors and family members started driving them to school.

Some parents got to work heard about the bus &8220;sick-out,&8221; and rushed to find out what had happened to their children.

Other parents driving by called friends to ask if they could pick up their child and take them to school.

&8220;I waited outside for 20 minutes,&8221; Vidalia Upper Elementary fifth-grader Austin Emfinger said. &8220;Dad called his friend and he got me.&8221;

Classmate Ashton Wright estimated she was outside &8212; where it was cold, she said &8212; for 30 to 45 minutes waiting on the bus that never came.

&8220;This is chaos,&8221; she said while she waited on a ride Friday afternoon.

Once the students got to their respective schools, many well past the first bell, all had to call home and tell someone to pick them up that afternoon.

The district had local radio stations broadcast the news to reach as many parents as possible.

&8220;I had some waiting on the corner at a quarter to 9,&8221; VUES Principal Darla Johnston said. &8220;Parents had already locked the door and gone to work.&8221;

Students who arrived late, left early as dismissal at VUES started unofficially sometime around 1:30.

Parents were allowed to come to the school when they could and get their children. Vidalia police stood out front directing traffic for more than an hour.

&8220;They put us in a bind today,&8221; fourth-grade teacher Gloria Colstan said. &8220;We didn&8217;t know until we got here. I guess this is the way you get what you want. But it&8217;s the love (teachers) have for children that keep us coming. What would they do if we didn&8217;t come?&8221;

Mom Chenna Wheeler, a student herself, had to leave school to pick up her fourth-grader.

&8220;I&8217;ll have to makeup the hours,&8221; she said. &8220;The bad thing is, we didn&8217;t know about it.&8221;

By 2:30 most kids knew what was going on, but had little understanding of the bigger picture.

&8220;The buses are on strike,&8221; 10-year-old Zach Cox said. &8220;They hate us.&8221;

Matt Marsh&8217;s children became bus riders for the first time Thursday, only to be left ride-less Friday. &8220;They were a little bit dismayed,&8221; he said.

Most parents were angry at the bus &8220;sick-out,&8221; but some said they understood.

&8220;I think they should pay them more,&8221; James Lawrence said. &8220;If you feel like you are not getting what you are worth, you have to do something about it.&8221;

Attendance wasn&8217;t greatly lowered at any parish schools &8212; eight were unaccounted for at VUES &8212; and class went on.

&8220;It was a disruption at the beginning of the day, and it was a disruption at the end of the day, but in between, it was business as usual,&8221; Ferriday Upper Elementary Principal Lillian Franklin said.

Nearly all the VUES students were gone by 3:30. Less than 40 waited for a substitute bus at FUES at 3:45.