I had the worst fear...

Yesterday my 9 year old daughter gets off the bus screaming and crying like I never seen her before. The bus drives takes off. My 5 year old is NOT there!!! My daughter said she was not on the bus and the driver said I don't care . All the other 6 kids on that stop kept saying she wouldnt even listen!! I fly to school NO ONE could find her! Turns out they had a sub teacher and they put her on the wrong bus!! We got her back safe but I am so angry! The school said they were sorry however I am now scared to ever send her back! I know but still!! The school said they will discuss it with the busdriver but I will also. How can you ignore a child who is crying and shaking in fear saying her baby sister is lost. My 9 year old was up all night with dreams that someone stole her sister and we never got her back! I dont know what all I should do about this situation. Any suggestions?

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear that!! If it's any consolation, something similar happened to me when I was 5. It was the first day of school and they put me on the wrong bus. My mom was very upset, but luckily I knew how to tell the bus driver how to get to my house.

If I were you, I'd definitely give the bus driver a piece of my mind!! Shame on the bus driver!

Yeah, that bus driver would definitely get a BIG peice of mind, that person should not be working with children

That bus driver should seriously be reprimanded. We live in a time where many things happen, as adults, it is up to us to look out for the safety of children. If she isnt willing to look after the children, who specifically have been put in her care, then she needs to find another career.

I have a BIL & SIL who are both bus drivers. They have assigned seating for all the children and know everyone by name. ( I think the schoo bus companies have this as a requirement.) They also at te end of their run-check the bus thoroughly to make sure no one is lfet on the bus.) Was this the "regular" bus driver??? Maybe your girls could hold hands when they are standing and waiting for the bus so they get on the same time. Perhaps you could take them/pick up for a few days???

I would get a huge complaint drawn up against her. Give your little ones hugs from all the TCSers

That is awful, if i were you i'd take it further and talk to the bus drivers boss as someone like that should not be working on buses with children. I hope your daughter gets over this obviously upsetting experience and that you get the justice you and your daughters deserve.

Wow! That is terrible! As a mom of 2 girls myself I would be just as terrified as you. I had a scare similar to yours once and know that sinking feeling of terror. I am so glad to hear she is safe, but I would definitely pursue it a bit more. Maybe contact the director of transportation for the school. I don't know about your town, but in my town the individual schools really have no "clout" per say over the busing. In otherwords they can talk to the bus driver (like yours said they would), but nothing more. In our school office (where the superintendant is) we also have a tranportation director. I would see if you have something similar and maybe just stop in and speak with them. I think this is probably something they might want to know about. Just the fact that the bus driver didn't seem concerned at all for your childs feelings. I know it's not his/her fault your little one was on the wrong bus, but had he/she paid attention to your older one, they might not have ever left the school until they found her younger sister and put her on the correct bus.

As for my daughters bus driver - we had a fair a few weeks ago in town and there she was - drunker than a skunk. No biggie to have a few drinks, but if it was me, I would have avoided trying to run into kids on my bus. Instead, the bus driver when right over to my two (barely able to stand up) and started talkin away to them - "I'm so happy to see you! It's great you're here!...etc". It was disturbing, but a bit funny too. Also, I would not have wanted to be that bus driver on Monday because my kids are middle school and high school age - ages where not only do they understand she was hammered, but also kids can be very cruel at that age too. I'm sure she got a lot of teasing.
As long as she's not drinkin while she's drivin she can make as big a fool out of herself as she wants.

That is horrible! We also had a similar thing happen....Jazzy got on the wrong bus, so we were waiting and all the kids got off but her....her driver was nice & said she never got on the bus at all, she'd assumed we picked her up. We were frantic...Hubby drove to the school, of course no one was around anywhere, he couldn't find anyone at the office, in the class room, only a janitor that hadn't seen her. Finally about 30 minutes later, when my husband was driving around seeing if she decided to walk home (it's far enough, but possible) a different bus pulls up in front of our house. And she gets off, and she's the only one on there. The nice old man decided to just take her home after his route was done, and didn't have a cell phone for her to call us. We were greatful, and she thanked him, but still.....anything could've happened to a 8 yr old girl! Fortunatley he was a caring man, and not a pervert. I would complain to the school BIG TIME. Your 9yo can be allowed to leave her class 5-10 mins early and walk to the kdgn room to escort the little one to the bus, this will help with the confusion, and praise your eldest for the great job she did looking after her little sister, that she did all that she possibly could. And then, I would also call the bus company....most busses are contracted through an independant company....and I would complain about the driver too. The only problem, may be that your children will have to deal with this mean lady if she only gets a slap on the wrist. Good luck....

What a scare! If it were me I would take it to the next school board meeting. Around here thats the only way to get anything taken care of. The school board has more controll over reprimands and what not than the regular school offices do. Let us know what happens with whatever you decide to do!

I think your older daughter is super-sweet to be concerned about her little sis. You have taught her well.

Mistakes happen.

But that bus driver needs to loose their job. There is NO excuse for IGNORING a trembling child AND the group of children she is being dropped off with. THEN SPEEDING OFF so the mom can't confront you!!

Did the driver put any children in danger as she was driving off to get away from you? Were they even concerned about them or only concerned about avoiding a concerned/angery mother???

I am absolutly APPAULED!

(and also glad your daughter is safe)

Honey I am soooo sorry!!!!! I would have had a heart attack if my child was missing as well!!!!!!!! I am soooo glad that you were able to locate her! Thank goodness! Your poor 9yr old!!!!! I would definitely report the bus driver as well as the school and sub to the proper authorities that oversee things of that nature! I would have been breathing fire down those idiots necks!!! I would have assumed someone kidnapped her or something horrible. Bless your heart!!! I'm soo glad they're both safe and sound with you now. I would definitely report this to the school board! I'd have that bus driver fired!

Okay, I don't even have kids and this brought tears to my eyes...don't they know they could scar a kid for life!!! I hope this never happens again! This is why I worry so much about my nieces and nephews, I think that's why God didn't give me kids I would FREAK out about something like this! Thank God everthing worked out and your daughter was safe!!!

I would go to the Bus Garage and to the Board of Education.I would raise such a rucus, that they would NEVER allow that to happen again.
That is total BS!!! What a stupid bus driver.
We had a occasion here,although my son is 13............so not as tramatic as yours.OUr school was being let out early for floods,they sent 3 of my 4 kids home on the bus.I called the school as I live 15 minutes away and asked where my son was.I was told they didn't know.I made it to the school in 7 minutes.I went to the Principals office and told them if it ever happened again, they would end up calling the Police on me.
They also let my 2nd grader and and kinder. son off the bus early without calling to make sure I was home!!! Thank God our bus driver knows us really good and is a WONDERFUL bur driver,and told my sons if I wasn't at home--he would take them to his home and call until I got home.
I would try and reassure your daughter that your youngest is o.k. and that it was a one time thing.If you over-react.....which you HAVE EVERY RIGHT TOO,they feed off of your stress and fears and it only escilates theirs.

Ahh that happened to me when I was a kid - don't remember how old I was - pretty young I think, and it was the beginning of the school year, they put me on the wrong bus. The bus driver was nice tho - he kept trying to ask me where I lived, and I couldn't explain where or describe it to him :/ He drove me back to the school and they called my mom. And when I got home it was drilled into my head for an hour, my name, address, telephone number, and the two streets that lead to my street, so if it happened again, I could tell them where I lived

No excuse for the bus driver not giving a damn tho. He/she should be fired.

Oh boy... if that ever happened in NYC... *cough* lawsuit *cough*

Originally Posted by Pami

That bus driver should seriously be reprimanded. We live in a time where many things happen, as adults, it is up to us to look out for the safety of children. If she isnt willing to look after the children, who specifically have been put in her care, then she needs to find another career.

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, I would be having a very long talk with people at the school also.

IMO, there is plenty of blame to go around in your situation The sub needs to be more careful when loading the children on the buses - in my experience, the other kids are usu. trying to tell the adults that it's not the right bus. The drivers maybe should be given an assignment sheet that informs them if a child is absent, or has a note to ride a different bus so that THEY know when something is amiss.
My disabled daughter had the same thing happen when she was in the primary grades. What saved her was that she refused to get off at the wrong stop (in a rural area, next to the major highway, with the nearest house 1/4 mile away); the driver radioed to the school office that he had a child that refused to get off and was hanging on tight to the seat, and he couldn't understand what she was saying - he added that she was blonde but was speaking Chinese! (By then, I had run to the school, after calling them that she didn't get off at the stop, and the other kids kept saying that she was on the wrong bus and crying cuz the sub-special ed teacher forced her onto the wrong bus).
To overcome the bad experience, I made sure that she knew the number of her bus, and the street sign. I enlisted the help of the other kids at the stop the next morning and we built a small tower of rocks and sticks to designate the right bus stop.
I know this situation happens too frequently - it happened several years later to a 7yo, and wasn't found out till my girlfriend, her kids & I drove by a crying child, and the oldest son yelled to us that she was in his class and that something must be wrong!! So I immediately made a U-turn, and by then a lady in a nearby condo had come out to see what the commotion was about, so we were able to use her phone to call the school, who sent out another bus to pick the child up. Later that night, the girl's father called to thank me - that poor child was so upset, she had peed her pants
As for my daugther, I had already taught her that she should not get off any stop that she didn't recognize - that they would call me if that happened, and I would come down and get her. The principal did a thorough follow-up of the situation and let me know that the driver was getting cited for trying to pry my daughter's fingers off the bus frame.
In the second incident, it was the director of the bus division that forced the other child off the bus (according to the other kids that were there that day); I wrote a letter to the school. After that, when the head driver drove my daughter's bus, she was just generally mean-spirited to my kids. I warned her that I could take her nasty attitude, but if her behavior ever led to any misdeeds, I'd make sure that she was disciplined. I did speak to the principal about her attitude, so he was aware of this.
children have enough to deal with in school - the last thing they need is to be let down by the adults that are hired to protect and guide them!