An investigation is underway after a primary-aged child was forced by his bus driver to get off at the wrong stop, TLS has learned.
The incident occurred during yesterday’s afternoon run.
The mother of the 5-year-old boy relates to TLS that the bus driver was doing his rounds when he stopped on a street unfamiliar to the boy, and told him to get off.
“He told him it’s not his stop, but the bus driver insisted it was,” the mother says. Despite the boy crying and telling the bus driver it was the wrong stop, he was told by the bus driver to get off the bus. There was no other child or parent at that stop, which was about a mile away from the boy’s home, the mother says.
“The bus driver then drove off and my son started running after the bus,” the mother said.
But that didn’t help, and the boy was left stranded.
A short time later, the bus driver pulled up to the boy’s real bus stop to drop off another boy, who was also crying.
But when her child failed to come off the bus, the frantic mother asked the driver what’s going on, to which the bus driver slammed the door in her face and drove off, the mother stated.
At this point, the hysterical mother herself began chasing the bus up the block, but to no avail.
About 15 minutes later, a man drove up to her home with her son, saying he found him crying on the street. The man said he was thankfully able to identify the child and his address due the school’s name tag sticker on his backpack.
This evening, officials met with the mother to address the incident.
“They are hoping to have him fired, but I want him to lose his busing license so this doesn’t happen to other children,” the mother told TLS.
UPDATE: TLS spoke with the bus company who said that the bus driver announced for a ‘Chaim’ to get off at the first stop, but since the intended Chaim wasn’t on the bus, this boy, whose name was also Chaim, came to the front of the bus to get off.
“The boy didn’t protest, he wasn’t forced to get off and didn’t cry,” the bus company spokesman says. He did acknowledge however that the bus driver did drop off the lone child with no parent around.
“Parents need to be waiting at the stop,” he said.
The company is also unaware of what happened once the child was left there.
He added that the mother did indeed try to talk to the bus driver when her child never showed up, and the bus driver closed the door and drove off before the mother had a chance to ask where her child was. She did then chase the bus, but the driver didn’t stop.
Neighbors tell TLS that the driver “is known to be a grumpy and cranky man.”
The company says they are still looking into the incident.
[TLS]
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How did they get hold of officials if they never pick up there phone and there voice mails are always full.
There should be no questions the driver should be fired and loose his license.
We had similar story last year. First day of school, bus driver got lost, didn’t know what to do, just pulled over to side of road did nothing!! Another mother nearby took the kids to her house and tracked down parents and had them picked up. My son came home TWI hours after dismissal and we live very close to the school, he was supposed to be the first stop. My son was in first grade.
(moderated) bus was being driven by a drunk driver yesterday morning.
This madness must stop! They curse and yell at the kids terrorizing them every day, especially (moderated) and (moderated).
What bus company was it?
Similar though not such a dramatic story here: a bus driver forced my child to get off at a wrong spot in my complex, nobody was at the stop, he refused to let her off at her stop, she had to cross a dangerous street in the complex and came home hysterical.
I hope this driver is arrested!
The mother wants him fired?
That’s a starts but more must be done.
Aside for having legal charges filed against the driver for endangering the welfare of a child etc, money should be put together to file a lawsuit against the driver. He should be taken for every penny he has, had and will have. Perhaps that will deter anybody from perpetrating this sort of incident again.
And the hysterical mother didn’t call the police…..why? Has anyone called the police within a reasonable time of this incident? Why not?
The busing situation is slowly spinning out of control. Enough with the red tape and onerous bureaucracy. Who are the individuals responsible for placing the lives of children at risk? We have a judiciary for a reason and if local and state officials continue to carelessly flaunt our safety, it’s high time we used it. The liability starts with the drivers and may be traced up the chain of command. Those making decisions in the name of the almighty dollar or the honor of their government job, beware, you may be found personally liable when the legal dust settles.
#6 Money isn’t needed to file a law suit. Attorneys will line up to get a cut of this. They take 40%
How about the bus driver yesterday who did not allow the kids to open the windows when it was 92 degrees outside. But the bus driver opened the window for himself.
If child protective service got involved with a parent doing that to a child, the child would be taken away. But for a bus driver on a 45 minute route it is OK?
Contact me off the post if you want more info.
Or he bus driver who wanted to make a turning light which was over for 3 seconds and sped when it was green for the other side and the other car was already in the intersection.
How about the bus driver who was texting on his phone driving through a development with a bus full of kids?
Or the bus driver who doesn’t stop for stop signs?
Welcome to lakewood busses. There is no checks and balances. In the old days if a bus driver did something they wouldn’t have a job. Today they are begged to have a job.
There should be a natural party in lakewood that should hear all bus complaints.
Zev,
The take 40% of the settlement.
40% of this bus drivers net worth probably can’t pay for one hour of work from a competent attorney.
The local kids call him Mr. Kranky – he has been an obnoxious and unsafe driver for years. Many complaints were made and always ignored.
Hodu L’Hashem that this did not end in a terrible situation – We have to be so grateful to Hashem that we were zocheh to have this little child home safe and sound
They bus driver should be ARRESTED ASAP
There should be bus monitors on every bus. I would be more than happy to pay an extra fee to the school to cover that. This way there is someone to report back when the driver does not act proper, and it will protect the kids from bullying.
Almost every chasidish school has it (in Brooklyn and Monsey) why can’t we do it for every school in lakewood?
Wow thats really sad poor kid. He is prob. Traumatized . Thank you to the person that helped him and dropped him off. Thankfully it was an honest and trusting person or this event could have been much worse. If all is true with this story I would demand he be FIRED ASAP!!
What an outrage!! And who knows if now the mother will be forced to take the child to school every day since the child will refuse to step foot on a bus again. What a traumatic experience for a young child! B’H it ended with the child home safe and sound. I’m sure the mom herself is still pretty rattled and may not trust bussing too quickly again.
Let the bus company answer their story to the ocpo. See if they buy it.
There was pure negligence. The bus company wants to protect themselves and their contract.
Admit fault and place corrections so that this won’t happen again.
The company said they are still looking into it.
The driver should be terminated immediately. They can look into it to find out if it happened to others.
Every child should know that if they are lost or far from home they do NOT go in someone elses car. FIRST they must ask someone to call their parents and wait for the parent to get them. They should never go with someone else until they have spoken to their parents
Why is it the busses in Lakewood have no monitors for the younger kids? In Brooklyn every school practically spends a bit more money and pays for someone to make sure the children are taken care of in the morning and the afternoon. I think with the tuition we pay in here, the schools can afford such an expense for the safety of our kids.
these stories happen all the time ,driver dropped my 4 year old neighbor off a mile away
We had a similar thing today but B”H our son is in fourth grade and knew how to walk home. The driver told him he needs to get off 10 minute walk from our house since he will not sit in the traffic to go down our block. My wife wanted to call the company. As an experienced teacher who took care of busing for a few years I told her the driver will lie and it will be the child’s word against his and nothing will happen. Now I see this and I don’t doubt that is exactly what happened this young boy and would happen if we reported it. I;m almost sure nothing will be done to the driver.
How about when the bus drivers make the kids cross dangerous streets because they are too lazy to turn and drop them in the right places?
This is every parents worse nightmare come true!!!! I say we the parents should take the BOE vouchers for transportation and set up private transportation through the schools. All the private schools that do such are happy and co rodent that their children are on safe buses with drivers who are privately paid. Private pay=accountability. Public funded=at THEIR mercy…HEAVEN HELP US!
Slightly off topic…
#1- Did you ever learn that there is a difference between “there” and “their”?
Seems like some people need school again.
My son actually came off the busses yesterday saying MY BUS DRIVER IS SO MEAN, HE SAID ANYONE WHO DOENT STOP TALKING, WILL BE DROPPED OFF AT WRONG STOP.. Go figure this out.. They all should be fired behind bars. There are the people we trust our kids with….
Why’s amazing is the bus companies have cameras on the bus and the video was forwarded to appropriate individuals who confirmed that at no point did the kid say it’s not his stop and at no point did the driver force him off all he did was stop and opened the door and the kid walked off
The driver should not have dropped off the kid without a parent there however half this town unfortunately let their kids walk alone from the stop to the house
I contacted the police when I saw dangerous behavior by a bus driver. Take down the bus number, the bus company and a description of the driver and email the police department. That way a record is available of all complaints.
So remind me why we want BOE transportation for our kids…..?
It’s very sad that we choose our children’s school and friends so carefully and then put them on an unsupervised bus with a person that we would probably not want to be with in a room alone.
Granted some drivers are nice to the kids and of course that is very much appreciated.
How wonderful it would be if we only had yidden as our children’s drivers or a bus moniter on the bus with the children..
WHY, WHY, WHY is this something that is not addressed?
It’s always a mystery to me the first few days of a new school yr. The kids come home 30-90 min later than usual because the drivers are unfamiliar with the route. That makes sense. So why can’t we have monitors on the bus just for the first week ??!! A whole yr is too much, fine. But for a few days ??!! What’s the big deal. Every new school yr these nightmare stories come out. And what happened to all the Mishelanu, fununzerer drivers ?
OK OK, no more complementary bussing, no more problems.
This story sounds messed up
But there are nice bus drivers and there no reason we should put the hate on all of them
Stop with the Emailing the Police. Everyone should have the phone# of the Lkwd PD Station in their phone. Dial it and an officer picks up and you get immediate results. Never waste your time with 911….that’s County Based and wastes valuable minutes providing they don’t make any errors, otherwise…….
My daughter started primary yesterday and commented how nice her bus drivers were. So kuddos to all those hard working drivers of our precious children.
I agree there are a lot of very nice drivers
This is so upsetting to me. My daughter who is in first grade told me that her bus driver last year would grab children by the wrist and shove them in to their seat. Yesterday when I drove my daughter to school, because her bus didn’t show up again, I saw a bus driver verbally attacking the poor school secretary’s with extremely inappropriate language. Handing our most precious possessions in to the authority of the bus companies, is becoming a terrifying situation. And the acceptance that this chaos is okay, “because it is the beginning of the school year” is mind boggling in today’s day and age. The Board of Ed has a job. If it is too much, they should not have run. These results are pathetic and inexcusable. In no other industry, would such failures across the board be tolerable.
we should have an oversight committee to control the way the buses operate and which drivers they send. time has come. maybe interview the drivers before hiring and tell them what is expected.
Were is The DCPP (formally known as DYFS)
Or are they only there for when loving and caring parents have a honest and unfortunate accident
My neighbor almost got run over by her own kids bus,before the kids got on, because the driver was in such a big rush and was ready to leave the stop before anyone even knew which school she was picking up . what a safe driver to let drive around town with our precious kids.
I dont like mean drivers but sometimes i wonder if they are like that because the kids dont listen. Its not always the busdrivers fault,it must be hard to drive a bus with kids yelling out windows and standing up. I think we also need to teach our kids (especially the older ones) to behave on the bus and have derech eretz.
children’s bus driver should be required to like kids and have patience. I once drove primary boys for about a year and I enjoyed it even if the boys sometimes acted up. Unfortunately the traffic situation in Lakewood doesn’t help to keep one’s cool.
I had to wait over 1/2 hour for a primary child in Westgate and didn’t even know exactly where the bus was going to stop. On the first day it stopped on one side of the street (across a major street from the child’s house) the next day it stopped on the same side of the street as where the child lives. Each time I asked the driver if that would be the regular stop and she told me she doesn’t know, she is doing this to help someone out. While not being really mean, she came across as annoyed at not knowing where to let off the child. She sounded annoyed that I wasn’t waiting at the right stop, when all I did for 1/2 hour was pace up and down the block looking at every bus that came to see if my charge was on it.
Maay be the mothers should take turns in chaperoning the busses. Great idea!
Fire Him and press charges
there are alot of things wrong with alot of things in Lakewood, but there is alot of good too. what about the bus driver who goes out of her way to help a child who is socially awkward or going the extra mile for her “kids” on the bus. lets stop pointing fingers and start working together towards a solution.
The bus routes are bid on by private companies. The drivers are hired by the private companies. if you have issues with the bus drivers call the bus company and take it up with them. I don’t know why everyone is bashing the BOE. When I had to deal with the BOE I acted in a kind and courteous manner and was treated accordingly. In fact, they went above and beyond to help me.
upon first day of busing each child should have a CARD from the Board of Transportation they rcv in the mail , indicating their full name and estimated time of pick up and drop off. and their STOP location.The child should take it with her/him and show it to each driver , especially on the first day run. That would avoid having the driver call just a first name and telling the child to get off misidentifying who the child is. If the Driver does not abide by the card…he will bear the legal and employment consequences.
years ago my primary aged son fell asleep on the afternoon bus. He was finally found 3 hours later by children getting on the bus from a completely different school. Instead of admitting his mistake the bus driver left my 5 yr old at the school that he did not attend to figure out who he was and where he belonged. Now in 4th grade, he still has anxiety about riding on the bus and falling asleep. The answer? Adult bus monitors who keep lists of which children belong on the bus and making certain they are only dropped off with parental supervision. Guaranteed the drivers will act with more respect and the children will be safe…and the absentee parents who do not wish to comply will have to pick up their children from school.
I agree with the #48
If there were monitors on each bus there would be heaps of problems we could avoid. Just to mention some….a) The drivers would watch their language and subjects they bring up with the children….b) Many fights on the bus and bullying would be avoided….c) of course, safety of our children.
Is this bus driver old?my my son was 5-7 they w r re dropping him off alone in a busy MAJOR highway to walk threw,a parking lot to a daycare i personally was,working for at the time. The company sent a second person to ride,w him for 2days.that 2 days he did what he was supose to (come into parking lit n drop at our doors the day the guy wasnt monitoring him anymore he went back to same highway drop off. I had to bing a video recorder in (back then cell phones werent like now)He was,never fired.
Nearly every School Bus in Monmouth County has cameras in them. Some in Ocean County as well. They’re rather inexpensive. Perhaps Lakewood should start a fund or petition the Councimen and County Legislators to get this done.
In Marlboro, NJ as well as Manalapan, marked and unmarked Police Cars randomly follow the School Buses. Lakewood? Never happen.
Where living in a time where we have become used to entitlements. We have a problem, then someone must go and oversee it to make sure it’s not an issue. We seem to have forgotten that it costs money for those additional services and we certainly don’t want to pay any extra.
A more sensible approach is that we go back to the basics. Who will look after our precious children better than their own parents? Many people need jobs. Let’s combine the need for safer bus drivers and Parnassa for our families by getting trained and licensed to drive our precious tinokis shel Bais raban
Ksiva vachasima tova!
#42 “….bus driver should be required to like kids and have patience. “-
And how do you go about finding out if they Fill that Requirement? Testing? PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION? Ask if they like Disney World and SpongeBob? Maybe we can have them questioned by a room full of 5-10 yr olds?
Zen, there should be psychiatric testing, just as you said.
For the poster who is hocking entitlement…when I went to school 30 years ago there were bus monitors. They were typically older folks and noone questioned how they were paid. Based on my experiences with my own children I would be happy to pay extra if they were provided if money is indeed the issue. The story with my son is certainly not the only one Ive got (i have a daughter who had terrible experiences with bus drivers both religious and not) and based on the posts here it seems like I am not the only one. And for the record…YES my children ARE entitled to feel safe when being transported to and from school.