I was so shocked by this story out of Compton, California: Families of Special Needs Kids Want Answers About Five-Hour Ride by Lost Bus Driver. A bus carrying 14 students with special needs was LOST for five hours on the second day of school. And no, the kids were not driving themselves.
How does one get "lost" for 5 hours? Without so much as running out of gas? Or asking for directions? It's not like Compton is way out in the boonies where each house is separated by a 30 minute drive. I'd be seriously worried about something ELSE (of the illegal kind) going on. Regardless of whether kids are involved or not, any regular sane person lost for more than 30 minutes would stop and ask for directions! I understand that mistakes happen. However, mistakes account for the school bus being 10 minutes late, not 300 minutes late.
Forget 5 hours. If my child was late for 30 minutes I'd be on the phone with the police, FBI, CIA, Secret Service, National Guard, and anybody and everybody that would listen. I'd be driving around town looking for school buses. This bus driver essentially KIDNAPPED these children for 5 hours. I hope the police has at least spoken to this individual. An adult goes missing with a bunch of children for 5 hours...it doesn't take an overly imaginative or paranoid person to think of the possibilities.
What's worse is the superintendent's reaction. "They were on the bus. They were safe. We were tracking the bus. We were looking for where the bus was." How does the superintendent know the kids were safe (or even on the bus) if they didn't know WHERE the bus was? And if they were tracking the bus, why didn't they know immediately where it was??
Our only experience with school transportation was only for a month with Bugsy's first school district before we moved. We loved the driver; she was so sweet and caring. I'm definitely not encouraging paranoia or a boycotting of school transportation services, and frankly I'm more concerned with the Compton district's handling and reaction to this incident.
What are your thoughts?
How does one get "lost" for 5 hours? Without so much as running out of gas? Or asking for directions? It's not like Compton is way out in the boonies where each house is separated by a 30 minute drive. I'd be seriously worried about something ELSE (of the illegal kind) going on. Regardless of whether kids are involved or not, any regular sane person lost for more than 30 minutes would stop and ask for directions! I understand that mistakes happen. However, mistakes account for the school bus being 10 minutes late, not 300 minutes late.
Forget 5 hours. If my child was late for 30 minutes I'd be on the phone with the police, FBI, CIA, Secret Service, National Guard, and anybody and everybody that would listen. I'd be driving around town looking for school buses. This bus driver essentially KIDNAPPED these children for 5 hours. I hope the police has at least spoken to this individual. An adult goes missing with a bunch of children for 5 hours...it doesn't take an overly imaginative or paranoid person to think of the possibilities.
What's worse is the superintendent's reaction. "They were on the bus. They were safe. We were tracking the bus. We were looking for where the bus was." How does the superintendent know the kids were safe (or even on the bus) if they didn't know WHERE the bus was? And if they were tracking the bus, why didn't they know immediately where it was??
Our only experience with school transportation was only for a month with Bugsy's first school district before we moved. We loved the driver; she was so sweet and caring. I'm definitely not encouraging paranoia or a boycotting of school transportation services, and frankly I'm more concerned with the Compton district's handling and reaction to this incident.
What are your thoughts?
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