Jennifer McClory’s car slid into the bus lane when she dropped her son off Thursday at school in Bentonville.

The entrance to Washington Junior High School “was solid ice,” and a number of cars slid across it on their way into the school drive, McClory said. It was impossible to stop at the stop sign.

“It was pretty treacherous this morning,” she said. “It was a little unnerving.”

McClory said only the entrance was icy and sidewalks and main roads were clear.

Parents and district school buses had problems with the ice and snow Thursday morning.

Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville and Springdale districts ran limited bus routes Thursday, according to officials. Some Bentonville parents had to drive their children to one of five centralized locations to meet a bus.

The Rogers district had about 50 buses running partial routes, while Fayetteville drivers couldn't reach portions of eight to 10 routes. Springdale drivers were able to drive about 95 percent of the routes in town and 75 percent of rural routes.

“I can get a lot of places in my personal car that I can’t get in a bus,” said Chris DeWitt, Bentonville district transportation director.

It takes a concerted effort to get bus routes running again once snow and ice have covered the road, DeWitt said. Drivers come in at 3 a.m. to start the buses, letting them run as long as 90 minutes to warm up.

Road conditions combined with cold weather put some buses behind schedule, DeWitt said. At least eight of Bentonville’s 148 buses didn’t start Thursday. Getting those buses running or swapped out added to the delay caused by road conditions. Delays were as long as an hour. The only accident involved a bus backing over a mailbox.

Three buses didn’t start in Rogers, said Ron Young, district transportation director. Staff members jump-started the buses or another bus was used. Road conditions slowed buses.

“’Get the kids and be safe,” Young said he told the drivers. “We may be 10 minutes late, and that’s OK.”

Buses collected students from rural Rogers routes at central points such as Garfield Elementary School. Young didn't know the exact number of students affected, but said they would probably fit on two buses. Those routes will run again once the roads thaw.

“We’ll have to look at that one day at a time,” Young said.

Buses in the Fayetteville School District started without many problems Thursday. Some of the air lines on the buses froze, said Tommy Davenport, district transportation director. The lines create air pressure to release the brakes. When the lines freeze, the buses can’t move.

Drivers avoided rural and dirt roads, which is normal procedure when there's snow and ice, Davenport said.

“They’re slick, and they’re harder to maneuver,” he said.

One driver avoided a second trip up Stone Mountain Drive and Stone Bridge Road because of conditions, Davenport said. The two roads are steep, and the driver was uncomfortable driving on them.

It’s not easy to drive a rear-wheel-drive school bus on slick roads, Davenport said.

Bus drivers started working 15 to 20 minutes earlier than usual Thursday to remove ice and warm up buses, Davenport said.

Fewer students ride buses in the morning when there is ice and snow because parents drive them, Davenport said. The buses usually have more students when school gets out in the afternoon.

It was “all hands on deck” Thursday morning for mechanics and bus drivers in the Springdale School District, said Dana Samples, district transportation director. Staff members got to work about 5:30 a.m. They arrive between 6 and 6:30 a.m. in good weather.

The district had at least six buses that wouldn’t start, Samples said. The cold weather caused the batteries to freeze, which can happen even in dry conditions without ice and snow. Drivers used spare buses.

“Any time you have this cold of weather, you will have this problem with buses not starting,” he said.

Springdale bus drivers avoided a lot of rural routes Thursday morning, Samples said.

“There was an occasional hill here and there we had to go around,” he said.

They avoided the Pleasure Heights area near Beaver Lake and the side streets around Harmon Road, Samples said. Some parking lots of apartment complexes also were icy, and buses picked up students on the roads in front of the buildings.

“Each school district faces the same kinds of challenges on these kinds of days,” he said.