Parents of some Mason Elementary School students said they’re upset after their children’s school bus took almost two hours to get to school on Tuesday.
Two parents of students on the bus said they’re frustrated by what happened.
“She started getting nervous about where she was. She was afraid she was being kidnapped,” Christina Norris, a parent of two students on the bus, said.
Norris said her fifth grader, Kaylee, called her form the bus Tuesday morning, saying it had been almost an hour and she still wasn’t at school. Norris then contacted Mason Elementary.
“When the school said they couldn’t track where the kids were either, that was even more scary,” Norris said.
Rebecca Ostapchuk said her second grader and kindergartener were also on the bus. She said her second grader started using her smart watch to let her know something was wrong.
“She started sending us sad faces and then sent us a video of herself and then she called us and told us that she didn’t know where she was,” Ostapchuk said.
Meanwhile some of the older students on the bus flagged down other drivers to call police.
“While we were on the phone, the police came up on the bus and talked to us over the smart watch,” Ostapchuk said.
Ostapchuk said the officers told her the bus driver had put in the wrong address and got lost.
“It makes me very worried,” Ostapchuk said.
Norris said school staff also told her the same story.
“At first I was just told that he claimed he put the wrong address in the GPS and then he fixed it real quick and carried on to school, but 104 minutes, that’s not real quick,” Norris said.
Both families said there are issues with busing every year, and they don’t feel their concerns are being addressed.
“They just keep circling around the same things that they’re taking care of it and it’s under investigation, but these problems keep arising,” Ostapchuk said.
At Tuesday night’s Boston Public Schools School Committee Meeting, Superintendent Mary Skipper said they school is off to a strong start with their buses. She also addressed some of the challenges.
“There’s challenges that happen every school year as bus drivers are new to routes, new to the city… sometimes we have a driver who is still learning the route and they can get lost and have to get redirected and supported,” Skipper said.
The district also issued a statement on Tuesday stating:
“The HS441 Mason morning bus was significantly delayed this morning, and we apologize for the frustration the delay caused. As soon as our Transportation team became aware, the team immediately contacted students’ families and remained in communication with the school leader. We are reviewing what occurred and will take appropriate next steps. Boston Public Schools remains committed to safe, reliable, and on-time transportation for all students and families.”
As of Wednesday evening, the district did not have an update on it’s review of the incident.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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