Christina
School District leaders are trying to reassure parents that two
incidents in which preschool students were left on school buses are
isolated incidents.
“We understand that parents should have some
concerns. We’re not trying to justify or make any excuses whatsoever for
the incidents that occurred,” Christina Superintendent Freeman Williams
said. “However, every day we have hundreds of bus drivers taking
students to and from school, and 99.9 percent of them never see a
problem.”
On Wednesday, a boy was left on a bus that arrived at
the Christina Early Education Center before 9:30 a.m. Around 2 p.m.,
another bus driver and aide discovered the boy asleep on the bus, state
police reported.
Another boy had been left on a Christina bus in
January, but his mother said district officials had convinced her they
were taking steps to make sure it didn’t happen again, so she didn’t
report it to police. After hearing about Wednesday’s incident, she
decided to speak out about her son’s situation.
State police said
Friday they were still investigating the incidents, according to Cpl.
John Day. The driver and aide were placed on leave while the district
goes through its disciplinary process.
News about the students’
plight drew outrage. A post on the DelawareOnline.com Facebook page drew
more than 60 comments and was shared more than 160 times.
“This
is beyond unacceptable. Thank God this was a good outcome,” wrote Dawn
Mitchell. “When I think of the things that could’ve happened to this
child as a result of such carelessness – there is absolutely no excuse
in the world that makes this okay.”
Jeanette Yarborough has a third-grader in Christina schools.
“I
was just so upset. I mean, if you’re a parent you think ‘what if that
was my kid?’ ” she said. “Your mind just jumps to picturing your kid
sitting there all alone, cold and all by themselves.”
Several
parents said stories like this made them want to drive their kids to
school rather than rely on the bus. Yarborough said she considered it
briefly, but said she and her husband both work and neither has time to
drop off and pick up their son.
“When that bus driver shows up,
they’re going to find me waiting there and we’re going to have a little
heart to heart,” she said. “You bet I’m going to have a conversation
with them, and I’m going to call the school, too.”
Williams said
he spent the morning welcoming buses into schools, and said he had no
indication fewer students were taking the bus.
Williams said the district and state requires drivers to check their buses before leaving it.
“These
points are emphasized over and over again in training, and our
transportation supervisors emphasize this in the bus yards,” Williams
said. “Somebody slipped up.”
Williams said the district is implementing new checklists to make sure every student who gets on a bus makes it to their class.
Some current and former bus drivers jumped onto Facebook to say the incidents were an aberration.
“Unacceptable.
There are procedures in place for a reason. When I was a school bus
driver, we were reminded constantly to always check the bus, even under
seats, so no child is mistakenly left behind,” wrote Amanda Smith. “They
should have never left the school premises with a child still on the
bus, let alone make it back to the yard park and leave that child.”
Reporter Esteban Parra contributed to this story.
School District leaders are trying to reassure parents that two
incidents in which preschool students were left on school buses are
isolated incidents.
“We understand that parents should have some
concerns. We’re not trying to justify or make any excuses whatsoever for
the incidents that occurred,” Christina Superintendent Freeman Williams
said. “However, every day we have hundreds of bus drivers taking
students to and from school, and 99.9 percent of them never see a
problem.”
On Wednesday, a boy was left on a bus that arrived at
the Christina Early Education Center before 9:30 a.m. Around 2 p.m.,
another bus driver and aide discovered the boy asleep on the bus, state
police reported.
Another boy had been left on a Christina bus in
January, but his mother said district officials had convinced her they
were taking steps to make sure it didn’t happen again, so she didn’t
report it to police. After hearing about Wednesday’s incident, she
decided to speak out about her son’s situation.
State police said
Friday they were still investigating the incidents, according to Cpl.
John Day. The driver and aide were placed on leave while the district
goes through its disciplinary process.
News about the students’
plight drew outrage. A post on the DelawareOnline.com Facebook page drew
more than 60 comments and was shared more than 160 times.
“This
is beyond unacceptable. Thank God this was a good outcome,” wrote Dawn
Mitchell. “When I think of the things that could’ve happened to this
child as a result of such carelessness – there is absolutely no excuse
in the world that makes this okay.”
Jeanette Yarborough has a third-grader in Christina schools.
“I
was just so upset. I mean, if you’re a parent you think ‘what if that
was my kid?’ ” she said. “Your mind just jumps to picturing your kid
sitting there all alone, cold and all by themselves.”
Several
parents said stories like this made them want to drive their kids to
school rather than rely on the bus. Yarborough said she considered it
briefly, but said she and her husband both work and neither has time to
drop off and pick up their son.
“When that bus driver shows up,
they’re going to find me waiting there and we’re going to have a little
heart to heart,” she said. “You bet I’m going to have a conversation
with them, and I’m going to call the school, too.”
Williams said
he spent the morning welcoming buses into schools, and said he had no
indication fewer students were taking the bus.
Williams said the district and state requires drivers to check their buses before leaving it.
“These
points are emphasized over and over again in training, and our
transportation supervisors emphasize this in the bus yards,” Williams
said. “Somebody slipped up.”
Williams said the district is implementing new checklists to make sure every student who gets on a bus makes it to their class.
Some current and former bus drivers jumped onto Facebook to say the incidents were an aberration.
“Unacceptable.
There are procedures in place for a reason. When I was a school bus
driver, we were reminded constantly to always check the bus, even under
seats, so no child is mistakenly left behind,” wrote Amanda Smith. “They
should have never left the school premises with a child still on the
bus, let alone make it back to the yard park and leave that child.”
Reporter Esteban Parra contributed to this story.
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